DNA Barcoding of selected dragonfly species ( Libellulidae and Aeshnidae ) for species authentication with phylogenetic assessment

Dragonflies are the bio indicators of the aquatic ecosystem. Knowledge and studies on the diversity of dragonflies in India is very high. Identification by traditional taxonomy often leads to misidentification. Incidence of sexual dimorphism is found to be high particularly in the Libellulidae and Aeshnidae family. In order to resolve the above mentioned problem, the accurate identification of the dragonflies was carried out by DNA barcoding using COI gene. In the present study, selected dragonfly species (Bradinopyga geminata, Crocothemis servilia, Diplacodes trivialis and Anaciaeschna jaspidea) of the family of Libellulidae and Aeshnidae were taken and along with three other evident species (Pantala flavescens, Orthetrum sabina, and Brachythemis contaminata) were retrieved from GenBank. The phylogenetic tree was created using NJ (Neighbour Joining) method to determine the origin and evolutionary relationships of the species. Similarity search was performed and conformed species were submitted to the NCBI and BOLD database for species authentication. The present study concluded that the DNA barcoding is an invaluable tool for the authentication of the species. Storage of this nucleotide information in a database like BOLD would greatly help in the identification up to sub species level.