Any identification made based on the photographs is not 100% sure. I strongly recommend to use scientific keys & descriptions in order to identify species
Wonderful tortoise-beetle (Chrysomelidae Cassidinae) species! This leaf beetle probably belongs to the genus Aspidomorpha (cf. A. furcata, A. bifoveolata, on the basis of pictures which are to be found in internet). Regards,
Rinaldo Nicoli
I would suggest to contact prof. Lech Borowiec from Wrocław (Poland) and/or look among his publications here in ResearchGate
realice análisis molecular, la secuencia COI, luego la compara con las secuencias disponibles en Genbank
To Margarita: it is nowadays "fashionable" to think that taxonomic problems - species determinations in particular - can be solved by simple comparison of DNA-sequences, but it is a very dangerous trend for many reasons (see e.g. my paper on "Mediocrity..." and references therein), one (but only one) becomes obvious after asking the simple question: how many specimens of how many species have been analysed for DNA (so as to provide the data to compare our material with), and what proportion they make of those living in (in this case) S-Asia? Perhaps the situation is somewhat better (in this particular respect) with birds or mammals, but for the overwhelming majority of invertebrates (insects in particular) reliability of "molecular taxonomy" will for long not be even roughly comparable to that of the "traditional" approach!
Article 2010. Taxonomy and the mediocrity of DNA barcoding: some rem...
DNA can only be used as one (set of) character(s)/trait(s). We cannot have confidence in a classification that relies (almost) entirely on a minuscule part of a total genome. It almost analogous to relying on toe-nail colour as a morphological character. Until much more of a species genome has been analysed conclusions reached by DNA alone will constantly change as different areas of the genome are analysed.
I agree with Clive and Roman. The molecular biologist to take a sample for analysis of DNA from an entomological museum requires the help of the taxonomist to identify the species. Also the biologist always consult the species identification label and data made by a taxonomist, therefore the identification made by the taxonomist always will be more important and more reliable than the determination made by a molecular biologist who does not know about the morphological characters to distinguish the families, species, subspecies, forms, geographic races and even the sexes of the group of species he wants to study.
It looks like a moss in the family Mniaceae to me. I would contact Timo Koponen, an expert on the family, at email [email protected] He should be able to help you.
I agree with Roman but not with Clive and Luis Miguel. See
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/IDS_OpenIdEngine
Eventually in the nearest future the identification (in all organisms) will be not a work for taxonomists. The taxonomist will dedicate his time on taxonomy (species description, classification, phylogeny, etc) and not to identification.
I do not understand Angel: if you "agree with Roman", how can you disagree with Clive and Luis, who say essentially the same?
DNA barcoding cannot reliably identify species of insects when the fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidasae subunit 1 shows variability confounded by the spread of maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia that cosegregate with mitochondria. Wolbachia can potentially influence mtDNA variation at the intra- or interspecific level and this bacteria is found in up to 60% of all insect species. So what is more reliable, the taxonomic or molecular analysis for insect identification ?. See some evidences about this in the following papers which serve as a complement of the magnific discussion made by Roman Bohdan Holynski in the paper he just posted in this forum:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493573/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2203625/
Sorry about my earlier answer but I was trying to answer a request for a moss identification and I somehow put the answer for this request.
You are right Roman when you say:
"how many specimens of how many species have been analysed for DNA (so as to provide the data to compare our material with), and what proportion they make of those living in (in this case) S-Asia? Perhaps the situation is somewhat better (in this particular respect) with birds or mammals, but for the overwhelming majority of invertebrates (insects in particular) reliability of "molecular taxonomy" will for long not be even roughly comparable to that of the "traditional" approach!"
However situation is changing rapidly and each day many more invertebrates are added to the ADN COI library.
"each day many more invertebrates are added to the ADN COI library" - well, I do not wish to enter into soothsaying as to for how many species the DNA sequences will be known after 50 years, but for the moment the "data-base" (even in only "numerical" terms) is (and will certainly remain for the next many years ) by far insufficient to assure reliable identifications in most groups. And the number of species is only one problem, no less important is the reliability e.g. of the identification of specimens from which the "reference" DNA has been taken (who will, or even can, do it when the "traditional" taxonomist is one of the most "endangered species"?), the coverage of (individual, geographical &c.) variability, the problems with "lineage sorting", paralogy, "horizontal transfer" &c. As far as the reliable taxonomical conclusions are needed, I can only repeat:: for the overwhelming majority of invertebrates (insects in particular) reliability of "molecular taxonomy" will for long not be even roughly comparable to that of the "traditional" approach!" - and the current trend to eliminate morphological studies and replacing them with molecular procedures can only increase confusion, proliferate untrustworthy data, and spoil even that knowledge hitherto accumulated!
the tortoise beetle from Bangalore is Aspidimorpha...99% A. furcata...but often include scale in picture or give size...see Cassidinae on line illustrated catalogue by Borowiec and Swietojanska...available on line
hvg
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