DNA Barcoding of Two Gonioctena Species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Described from the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

Eleven Gonioctena species have been recorded in the Korean Peninsula. Most species in the genus have very similar coloration and morphology. The male genitalia is generally used as the only reliable diagnostic character differentiating closely related species, but it is still difficult to identify females to species accurately. Here, we determined the COI barcodes of two Gonioctena species described from Korea and give morphological descriptions. The interspecific genetic divergence (Kimura 2-parameter) among the Gonioctena ranged from 0.073 to 0.138 and averaged 0.108. The pairwise genetic distance between the two Korean species (0.102) is similar to the average interspecific divergence. We predict that these analyses will help to resolve taxonomic issues and find cryptic species.