Characterizing Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and Other Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Negros, Philippines

Characterizing Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and Other Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Negros, Philippines

Alvin Sherman Library

Mayflies (Order: Ephemeroptera) and other aquatic macroinvertebrates are heavily understudied in the Philippines, and especially the province of Negros Oriental, despite making up a significant portion of biomass in freshwater ecosystems. The processes of morphological assessment and genetic barcoding of Ephemeroptera and other insect taxa sourced from three locations along the Malaunay River are described. The CO1 maternal mitochondrial gene was amplified via PCR and sequenced to DNA barcode specimens and construct a maximum likelihood phylogeny of taxa in the region. This study has generated foundational DNA barcoding data for Ephemeroptera biodiversity research in the Philippines, and there is an indication of allopatric divergence among populations of Ephemeroptera on different islands. Two species, Dudgeodes bauemfeidni sp. nov and Sparsorythus sescarorum, on Negros have clades that are reciprocally monophyletic with other Philippine islands. Another three taxa with strong matches to sequences in GenBank remain to be analyzed phylogenetically. Because Ephemeroptera and other aquatic insect orders can serve as bioindicators to water quality, a call for additional barcoding effort on insect biodiversity in the Philippines is likely to reveal cryptic diversity.