High throughput species identification of insects as ecological indicators using next generation sequencing

In the fields of ecology and conservation biology, when information requiring species-level identification is needed, many groups of living organisms are generally excluded de facto from the studies, merely because of the lack of access to the scarce specific taxonomic expertise and because of the largely unexplored and overwhelming diversity of some taxa, in particular in the species-rich inter-tropical regions. Molecular diversity, using for instance species-specific DNA barcodes as proxies to characterize species, can alleviate this impediment. When a reference library exists, DNA sequences can lead to actual species names and thus open access to all past information such as conservation status, known distribution and ecological attributes.
As one of the coordinators of the DNA barcoding campaign for Lepidoptera (gathering today more than 700K DNA barcodes for ca. 73.5K species), I will briefly introduce the ongoing efforts to assemble local, regional and global reference libraries for this insect order. I will then present the example of an ecological study in Amazonia where we tested the applicability and potential of high throughput molecular identification using next generation sequencing in two moderately diverse families of moths (Saturniidae and Sphingidae) for which a comprehensive reference library is available.
Finally, I will introduce a new project in which we aim at using a similar approach with saproxylic beetles. These insects are classical forest indicators and represent, in Europe only, an assemblage of several thousands of species in dozens of different families. Metabarcoding stands here as a promising option to handle the identification of the overwhelming number of specimens collected during sampling campaigns.