Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics
The species of Tabanus, commonly known as horse flies, are remarkable ectoparasites capable of transmitting various pathogens to animals and humans. Given their role in disease transmission, accurate identification of horse fly species is critical but traditionally relies on morphological characteri...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X25000032 |
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| author | Tanasak Changbunjong Thekhawet Weluwanarak Sedthapong Laojun Tanawat Chaiphongpachara |
| author_facet | Tanasak Changbunjong Thekhawet Weluwanarak Sedthapong Laojun Tanawat Chaiphongpachara |
| author_sort | Tanasak Changbunjong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The species of Tabanus, commonly known as horse flies, are remarkable ectoparasites capable of transmitting various pathogens to animals and humans. Given their role in disease transmission, accurate identification of horse fly species is critical but traditionally relies on morphological characteristics, requiring significant expertise and posing a high potential for error, especially with damaged specimens. To address the limitations of traditional morphological identification, this study highlights the importance of alternative techniques, including DNA barcoding and geometric morphometrics (GM). To enhance the reliability of species identification, DNA barcoding was employed to analyze 30 cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene sequences from 15 horse fly species, which were then compared with sequences in the GenBank and BOLD databases. Most cox1 sequences aligned with existing data, with similarity percentages ranging from 96% to 100%. However, discrepancies were noted, including Tabanus helvinus, misidentified as Tabanus aurilineatus, and Tabanus minimus, whose sequences matched those of both Tabanus minimus and Tabanus mesogaeus. Besides DNA barcoding, GM analyses were conducted to enhance species classification accuracy. Our GM analyses employed the landmark-based method for the entire wing and the outline-based method for the first submarginal cell. While shape-based GM analyses demonstrated high reliability, with adjusted total accuracy scores of 97% and 96%, size-based GM analyses yielded significantly lower accuracy, with scores of only 27% and 23%, respectively. These findings provide a foundation for refining horse fly species classification by integrating DNA barcoding and GM approaches, offering valuable advances in species identification and developing targeted control measures. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dca62d58aa7c41f183f6b6e79ec74ec7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-114X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-dca62d58aa7c41f183f6b6e79ec74ec72025-02-08T05:01:35ZengElsevierCurrent Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases2667-114X2025-01-017100243Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometricsTanasak Changbunjong0Thekhawet Weluwanarak1Sedthapong Laojun2Tanawat Chaiphongpachara3Department of Pre-Clinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand; The Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MoZWE), Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand; Corresponding author. Department of Pre-Clinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.The Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MoZWE), Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, ThailandDepartment of Public Health and Health Promotion, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Samut Songkhram, 75000, ThailandDepartment of Public Health and Health Promotion, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Samut Songkhram, 75000, Thailand; Corresponding author.The species of Tabanus, commonly known as horse flies, are remarkable ectoparasites capable of transmitting various pathogens to animals and humans. Given their role in disease transmission, accurate identification of horse fly species is critical but traditionally relies on morphological characteristics, requiring significant expertise and posing a high potential for error, especially with damaged specimens. To address the limitations of traditional morphological identification, this study highlights the importance of alternative techniques, including DNA barcoding and geometric morphometrics (GM). To enhance the reliability of species identification, DNA barcoding was employed to analyze 30 cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene sequences from 15 horse fly species, which were then compared with sequences in the GenBank and BOLD databases. Most cox1 sequences aligned with existing data, with similarity percentages ranging from 96% to 100%. However, discrepancies were noted, including Tabanus helvinus, misidentified as Tabanus aurilineatus, and Tabanus minimus, whose sequences matched those of both Tabanus minimus and Tabanus mesogaeus. Besides DNA barcoding, GM analyses were conducted to enhance species classification accuracy. Our GM analyses employed the landmark-based method for the entire wing and the outline-based method for the first submarginal cell. While shape-based GM analyses demonstrated high reliability, with adjusted total accuracy scores of 97% and 96%, size-based GM analyses yielded significantly lower accuracy, with scores of only 27% and 23%, respectively. These findings provide a foundation for refining horse fly species classification by integrating DNA barcoding and GM approaches, offering valuable advances in species identification and developing targeted control measures.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X25000032Horse fliesSpecies identificationDNA barcodeGeometric morphometricsLandmark-based geometric morphometricsOutline-based geometric morphometrics |
| spellingShingle | Tanasak Changbunjong Thekhawet Weluwanarak Sedthapong Laojun Tanawat Chaiphongpachara Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases Horse flies Species identification DNA barcode Geometric morphometrics Landmark-based geometric morphometrics Outline-based geometric morphometrics |
| title | Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| title_full | Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| title_fullStr | Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| title_short | Species classification of Tabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand: Integrating DNA barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| title_sort | species classification of tabanus diptera tabanidae in western thailand integrating dna barcoding and modern morphometrics |
| topic | Horse flies Species identification DNA barcode Geometric morphometrics Landmark-based geometric morphometrics Outline-based geometric morphometrics |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667114X25000032 |
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