ABSTRACT
In this study, we examined members of the ground-beetle genus Bembidion Latreille, 1802 from northern Iran using a combination of COI sequences and morphological data. A total number of 29 specimens belonging to 12 species of the genus Bembidion and one species of the genus Trechus from the Alborz Mountains were collected and analysed. 107 sequences from NCBI Genbank were added for molecular analysis. Our results confirm a high efficiency of DNA barcodes to resolve species of the genus. A clear barcoding gap, allowing a robust identification of the analysed species, was observed. Based on our results we propose species status for Bembidion haupti Reitter, 1908, formerly ranked as subspecies of Bembidion dalmatinum Dejean, 1831. This study represents the first effort generating DNA sequence data for members of the genus Bembidion in Iran and is a starting point for more local barcoding studies in the high-diversity regions of Iran.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Prof. Alireza Sari for his valuable help. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Luca Toledano, Dr. David Maddison and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments and checking identifications; we thank Dr. Paolo Bonavita and Dr. Jan Muilwijk for their helpful comments; Neda Fahimi for her helpful contributions and comments in the molecular field and Fahime Salimian for her help in collecting specimens.
Author contributions
Designed the study: N.T, M.S., A.R.K and M.H. Sampling: N.T. and M.S. Performed the laboratory work: N.T, A.R.K. and M.S. Data analysis: N.T., A.R.K., M.H. and M.S. Discussion and interpretation of the results: N.T., A.R.K., M.S. and M.H. Wrote the manuscript: N.T., M.S., A.R.K. and M.H. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
All sequence data will be submitted to NCBI GenBank https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/popset/1942256389?report=genbank.