{"id":1080,"date":"2019-04-07T09:01:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T13:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2020-07-16T10:57:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T14:57:13","slug":"discovering-fijis-native-bees-hidden-secrets-of-biodiversity-in-a-tropical-hotspot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/research\/discovering-fijis-native-bees-hidden-secrets-of-biodiversity-in-a-tropical-hotspot\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Fiji&#8217;s native bees: hidden secrets in a biodiversity hotspot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243; background_blend=&#8221;multiply&#8221;][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=&#8221;@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90aXRsZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7ImJlZm9yZSI6IiIsImFmdGVyIjoiIn19@&#8221; subhead=&#8221;@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9leGNlcnB0Iiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJ3b3JkcyI6IiIsInJlYWRfbW9yZV9sYWJlbCI6IiJ9fQ==@&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21.4&#8243; _dynamic_attributes=&#8221;title,subhead&#8221; content_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; content_text_color=&#8221;rgba(0,0,0,0.8)&#8221; subhead_font=&#8221;||on||||||&#8221; subhead_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; subhead_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; background_color=&#8221;rgba(168,211,103,0)&#8221; use_background_color_gradient=&#8221;on&#8221; background_color_gradient_start=&#8221;#000000&#8243; background_color_gradient_end=&#8221;#a8d367&#8243; background_color_gradient_end_position=&#8221;86%&#8221; background_image=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/v4.boldsystems.org_7125_animalia.png&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221;][\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Australia-fig1.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21.4&#8243; max_width=&#8221;95%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;-20px||20px&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243;][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|7px|0px|false|false&#8221;][et_pb_row module_class=&#8221; et_pb_row_fullwidth&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; width=&#8221;89%&#8221; width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; max_width=&#8221;89%&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||on||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#646564&#8243;]<p>Homalictus hadrander, one of the four described species previously known from Fiji.<br \/> PHOTO CREDIT: James Dorey<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;3_4,1_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.4.7&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;on&#8221; gutter_width=&#8221;2&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;3_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221;]<span class='et-dropcap'>F<\/span>iji\u2019s entomological diversity has historically been considered depauperate. Recent widespread DNA barcoding efforts, however, from the South Australian Museum, Flinders University, and University of South Australia, along with a flurry of undergraduate, honours, and PhD students, have helped to uncover some of the hidden secrets of biodiversity within this topographically complex archipelago.\n\n<span>Since 2010, funding from the Australian &amp; Pacific Science Foundation and Australian Commonwealth New Colombo Plan, along with support from students, has enabled fieldwork focused on collecting bees, wasps, and butterflies across all the major Fijian islands. Trekking up the tallest mountains, four-wheel driving across challenging terrain, and following the meandering rivers of inland Fiji has revealed that initial estimations of Fiji\u2019s entomological fauna have been severely underestimated.<\/span>\n\nDNA barcoding over 1,000 bee specimens has increased species richness estimates from 4 species (known since 1979) up to 26 endemic species in the genus\u00a0<\/span><em >Homalictus.\u00a0<\/em>Interestingly, 60% of these new species are only found above 800 m elevation which comprise a mere 2% of land area of Fiji, and they are often restricted to single mountain tops (Figure 1). From extensive DNA barcoding, mitochondrial haplotype diversity was used to explore the level of intraspecific gene flow in the widespread species of the genus (Figure 2).<\/span>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb image=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Australia-fig2.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21.4&#8243; body_font=&#8221;||on||||||&#8221; body_text_align=&#8221;right&#8221; body_text_color=&#8221;#646564&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;||50px&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#929292&#8243;]<p>Figure 1: (a) The number of species (species richness) plotted against land area available at each elevational gradient. (b) Map of Fiji showing the land area available. Colours correspond to those used in (a).<\/p>\n<p>CREATED BY: Cale Matthews<\/p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221;]<p><span>These results also indicate that gene flow is being restricted within highland localities of the most widespread\u00a0<em>Homalictus\u00a0<\/em>species. Dispersal from a species home range does not appear to be occurring in Fiji, which may be presenting a contemporary model of speciation that is predominantly influenced by past climatic fluctuations. There is an estimated crown age of 400 ka for the initial Fijian\u00a0<em>Homalictus\u00a0<\/em>colonisation, which would result in the genus being present for several glacial cycles. During glacial maxima, cooler climates would be ubiquitous throughout Fiji, however during glacial minima and interglacial periods there is a distinction between cool highland and warm lowland climate.\u00a0DNA barcoding results indicate that the largest diversification of this genus is concordant with the most recent glacial minima, as species that were freely dispersing during glacial maxima are forced to retreat into highland refugia. Combined with the inferred haplotype networks, these results indicate that restriction due to low thermal tolerance of lowland climate is driving the extraordinary highland species richness in Fiji.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb image=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Fijiensis-Haplotype-FINISHED.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21.4&#8243; body_font=&#8221;||on||||||&#8221; body_text_align=&#8221;right&#8221; body_text_color=&#8221;#646564&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;||50px&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#929292&#8243;]<p>Figure 2: (a) Haplotype network of all sequenced Homalictus fijiensis (N=358) coloured by sampling locality. Hash marks represent nucleotide changes between each haplotype. Shared haplotypes represented by circles with multiple colours. Circle outline representing highland or lowland sampling. (b) Sampling map of H. fijiensis coloured by geographic sampling locality.<\/p>\n<p>CREATED BY: Cale Matthews<\/p>[\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.4.7&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<p>Further to the work on bees, we have also started barcoding Fiji\u2019s butterfly fauna, along with the first-ever species of\u00a0<em>Gasteruption<\/em>, a parasitoid wasp genus, found in Fiji. The species,\u00a0<em>Gasteruption tomanivi\u00a0<\/em>(Published in Zootaxa by PhD student Ben Parslow), was found at the peak of Fiji\u2019s highest mountain. These discoveries have highlighted how little is known about the entomofauna of Fiji and how the use of DNA barcoding has helped to uncover Fiji\u2019s hidden secrets of biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||on||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#646564&#8243; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p>Written by<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Cale Matthews&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; image_url=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Cale-Matthews.png&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.4.7&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; position_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;James Dorey&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; image_url=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/James_Dorey.png&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Scott Groom&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Agriculture, University of Adelaide, Australia&#8221; image_url=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Scott_Groom.png&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Olivia Davies&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Elisha Freedman&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; image_url=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Elisha_Freedman.png&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Justin Holder&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;19px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Ben Parslow&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.2&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;19px&#8221; body_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;14px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_team_member name=&#8221;Michael Schwarz&#8221; position=&#8221;School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia&#8221; 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text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#003254&#8243; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221;]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9kYXRlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJkYXRlX2Zvcm1hdCI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJjdXN0b21fZGF0ZV9mb3JtYXQiOiIifX0=@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2019_Matthews.pdf&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;on&#8221; button_text=&#8221;PDF&#8221; button_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; custom_button=&#8221;on&#8221; button_text_size=&#8221;12px&#8221; button_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; button_bg_color=&#8221;#003254&#8243; button_icon=&#8221;%%26%%&#8221; button_icon_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset3&#8243; box_shadow_horizontal=&#8221;3px&#8221; box_shadow_vertical=&#8221;11px&#8221;][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.4.7&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;11px&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; 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background_color=&#8221;#f7f7f7&#8243; use_background_color_gradient=&#8221;on&#8221; background_color_gradient_start=&#8221;#d8d8d8&#8243; background_color_gradient_end=&#8221;rgba(255,255,255,0)&#8221; background_color_gradient_end_position=&#8221;52%&#8221; background_color_gradient_overlays_image=&#8221;on&#8221; background_image=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/v4.boldsystems.org_7125_animalia.png&#8221; parallax=&#8221;on&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;49px||0||false|false&#8221; top_divider_height=&#8221;69px&#8221; global_module=&#8221;175&#8243; saved_tabs=&#8221;all&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_4,1_2,1_4&#8243; module_class=&#8221; et_pb_row_fullwidth&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; width=&#8221;89%&#8221; width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; max_width=&#8221;89%&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px|||&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;27px|0px|114px|0px|false|false&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_font_size=&#8221;28px&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;28px&#8221;]<h2>Don&#8217;t Miss Out!<\/h2>\n<p>Subscribe to the iBOL Barcode Bulletin for updates on DNA barcoding efforts, the iBOL Consortium, and more.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][mc4wp_form][\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21.3&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|0|0px|false|false&#8221; border_width_all=&#8221;-2px&#8221; border_width_top=&#8221;3px&#8221; border_color_top=&#8221;#a8d367&#8243; global_module=&#8221;532&#8243; saved_tabs=&#8221;all&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_3,2_3&#8243; make_equal=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BarcodeBulletin.png&#8221; align_tablet=&#8221;center&#8221; align_phone=&#8221;&#8221; align_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.29.3&#8243; max_width_tablet=&#8221;38%&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_css_main_element=&#8221;margin:auto;&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221;]<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/about-the-barcode-bulletin\">About the Bulletin<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/glossary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glossary<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/about-the-barcode-bulletin\"><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/journal.lib.uoguelph.ca\/index.php\/ibol\/index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Archive<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/ibol.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iBOL Consortium<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/ibol.org\/news-and-media\/news-and-events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iBOL News<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/contact-us\/\">Contact Us<\/a><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers provide new insights into biodiversity using DNA barcoding in Fiji&#8217;s topographically complex archipelago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>C. Matthews<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, J. Dorey<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, S. Groom<\/em><sup><em>2<\/em><\/sup><em>, O. Davies<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, E. Freedman<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, J. Holder<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, B. Parslow<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, M. Schwarz<\/em><sup><em>1<\/em><\/sup><em>, M. Stevens<\/em><sup><em>3,4<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"fontSize\":\"small\"} -->\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><sup>1 <\/sup>School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia <br><sup>2 <\/sup>School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia <br><sup>3 <\/sup>South Australian Museum, GPO Box 234, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia <br><sup>4 <\/sup>School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Fiji\u2019s entomological diversity has historically\nbeen considered depauperate. Recent widespread DNA barcoding efforts, however,\nfrom the South Australian Museum, Flinders University and University of South\nAustralia, along with a flurry of undergraduate, honours and PhD students, have\nhelped to uncover some of the hidden secrets of biodiversity within this\ntopographically complex archipelago.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Since 2010, funding from the Australian\n&amp; Pacific Science Foundation and Australian Commonwealth New Colombo Plan, along\nwith support from students, has enabled fieldwork focused on collecting bees,\nwasps, and butterflies across all the major Fijian islands. Trekking up the\ntallest mountains, four wheel driving across challenging terrain, and following\nthe meandering rivers of inland Fiji has revealed that initial estimations of\nFiji\u2019s entomological fauna have been severely underestimated. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>DNA barcoding over 1,000 bee specimens has increased species richness estimates from 4 species (known since 1979) up to 26 endemic species in the genus <em>Homalictus. <\/em>Interestingly, 60% of these new species are only found above 800 m elevation which comprise a mere 2% of land area of Fiji, and often restricted to single mountain tops. From extensive barcoding, mitochondrial haplotype diversity was used to explore the level of intraspecific gene flow in the widespread species of the genus. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":69,\"align\":\"right\",\"linkDestination\":\"media\"} -->\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Fijiensis-Haplotype-FINISHED.jpg\"><img src=\"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Fijiensis-Haplotype-FINISHED-300x295.jpg\" alt=\"Haplotype network of all sequenced HOMALICTUS fijiensis (N=358) coloured by sampling locality. Hash marks represent nucleotide changes between each haplotype. Shared haplotypes represented by circles with multiple colours. Circle outline representing highland or lowland sampling. (b) Sampling map of H. fijiensis coloured by geographic sampling locality.\" class=\"wp-image-69\"\/><\/a><figcaption>Haplotype network of all sequenced HOMALICTUS fijiensis (N=358) coloured by sampling locality. Hash marks represent nucleotide changes between each haplotype. Shared haplotypes represented by circles with multiple colours. Circle outline representing highland or lowland sampling. (b) Sampling map of H. fijiensis coloured by geographic sampling locality.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>These results also indicate that gene flow is being restricted within highland localities of the most widespread <em>Homalictus <\/em>species. Dispersal from a species home range does not appear to be occurring in Fiji, which may be presenting a contemporary model of speciation that is predominantly influenced by past climatic fluctuations. There is an estimated crown age of 400 ka for the initial Fijian <em>Homalictus <\/em>colonisation, which would result in the genus being present for several glacial cycles. During glacial maxima, cooler climate would be ubiquitous throughout Fiji, however during glacial minima and interglacial periods there is a distinction between cool highland and warm lowland climate. DNA barcoding results indicate that the largest diversification of this genus is concordant with the most recent glacial minima, as species that were freely dispersing during glacial maxima are forced to retreat into highland refugia. Combined with the inferred haplotype networks, these results indicate that restriction due to low thermal tolerance of lowland climate is driving the extraordinary highland species richness in Fiji. Further to the work on bees, we have also started barcoding Fiji\u2019s butterfly fauna, along with the first ever species of <em>Gasteruption<\/em>, a parasitoid wasp genus, found in Fiji. The species, <em>Gasteruption tomanivi<\/em> (Published in Zootaxa by PhD student Ben Parslow), was found at the peak of Fiji\u2019s highest mountain. These discoveries have highlighted how little is known about the entomofauna of Fiji and how the use of DNA barcoding has helped to uncover Fiji\u2019s hidden secrets of biodiversity. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6,105,8,10,9,109,7,31,110,101],"coauthors":[157,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-australia","tag-evolution","tag-fiji","tag-gene-flow","tag-genetic-diversity","tag-hotspots","tag-hymenoptera","tag-insecta","tag-islands","tag-species-diversity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4575,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/4575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibol.org\/barcodebulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}