Lepidoptera projects
Expeditions of NCB Naturalis in the last ten years regarding Lepidoptera have focussed on South-East Asia, mainly Vietnam. Much of this material is unique and in many cases even still unknown to science. The specimens are being sorted to morphospecies at first, attempted to be identified and barcoded. The data will be used in biodiversity assessments and reciprocal identifications.
A member of the family Tortricidae
Nepticulidae is one of the Lepidopteran families with much active research in NCB Naturalis, taxonomically but also phylogenetically (see the Nepticuloidea scratchpad). There are regular collecting trips, where the focus is on finding the larva to establish reliable links with hostplants. Where possible, the larva are reared to adults and studied further. As there are only a handful of specialists available worldwide to identify species of this family the DNA barcodes will prove invaluable, and simultaneously aid the ongoing research.
A larva of Stigmella hybnerella, mining in a leaf of the common hawthorn,Crataegus monogyna
There are approximately 2800 species of moths and butterflies in the Netherlands. Lepidoptera are the group with worldwide the best barcode coverage, the dutch will add to this with specialist knowledge of especially many of the smaller Lepidoptera. Photographs taken for this project will also be used for the website Microlepidoptera.nl.
Click here for an overview of the collected Dutch species.
Friday, December 16, 2011