title: Molecular Species Delimitation and Morphology of Aquatic and Sub-Aquatic Bugs (Heteroptera) in Cameroon.
abstract: Aquatic and semi-aquatic bugs (Heteroptera) represent a remarkable diversity and a resurging interest has been given to documenting at the species level these insects inhabiting Cameroon in Central Africa due to their potential implication in the transmission of the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causal agent of Buruli ulcer, an emerging human disease. A survey was carried out over two years in Cameroon. Morphological analyses were done in two steps. A first step consisted in separating the specimens based on broadly shared characters into morphotypes. The specimens were then separated into two independent batches containing each the same representation of each morphotype. One batch (309 specimens) was used by taxonomy experts on aquatic bugs for species level identification and/or to reconcile nymph with their corresponding adult species. The second batch (188 specimens) was used to define species based on the COI DNA sequences (standard sequence used for "DNA barcoding") and using the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) method. The first morphological analysis step separated the specimens into 63 different morphotypes (49 adults and 14 nymphs), which were then found to belong to 54 morphological species in the infra-orders Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha based on the species-level morphological identification, and 41-45 putative molecular species according to the gap value retained in the ABGD. Integrating morphology and "DNA barcoding" reconciled all the specimens into 62 aquatic bug species in Cameroon. Generally, we obtained a good congruence between species a priori identified based on morphology from adult morphotypes and molecular putative species. Moreover, molecular identification has allowed the association of 86% of nymphs with adults. This work illustrates the importance of integrative taxonomy.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, BP 1857, Yaoundé, Cameroon.|Service de Mycobactériologie, Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, BP 1274, Yaoundé, Cameroon.|Université de Yaoundé I, Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Ecologie, Faculté des Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Solange
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meyin A Ebong
authors.affiliation: UMR EGCE (Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie), CNRS IRD- Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, BP 1857, Yaoundé, Cameroon.|UMR EGCE (Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie), CNRS IRD- Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Le Gall
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis, Leiden, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ping-Ping
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis, Leiden, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nieser
authors.affiliation: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Evolution, UMR7205 CNRS/MNHN, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guilbert
authors.affiliation: Université de Yaoundé I, Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Ecologie, Faculté des Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Flobert
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Njiokou
authors.affiliation: Inserm Avenir ATOMycA CRCNA Inserm U892 & CNRS U6299, Université et CHU d'Angers, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marsollier
authors.affiliation: UMR MIVEGEC IRD, CNRS, Universités de Montpellier, Centre IRD de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guégan
authors.affiliation: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Evolution, UMR7205 CNRS/MNHN, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pluot-Sigwalt
authors.affiliation: Service de Mycobactériologie, Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, BP 1274, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eyangoh
authors.affiliation: UMR EGCE (Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie), CNRS IRD- Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000235:genetics; D044822:Biodiversity; D002163:Cameroon; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D005260:Female; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D004247:DNA