Abstract:
By facilitating bioliteracy, DNA barcoding has the potential to improve the way the world relates to
wild biodiversity. Here we describe the early stages of the use of cox1 barcoding to supplement and
strengthen the taxonomic platform underpinning the inventory of thousands of sympatric species of
caterpillars in tropical dry forest, cloud forest and rain forest in northwestern Costa Rica. The results
show that barcoding a biologically complex biota unambiguously distinguishes among 97% of more
than 1000 species of reared Lepidoptera. Those few species whose barcodes overlap are closely
related and not confused with other species. Barcoding also has revealed a substantial number of
cryptic species among morphologically defined species, associated sexes, and reinforced identification
of species that are difficult to distinguish morphologically. For barcoding to achieve its full potential,
(i) ability to rapidly and cheaply barcode older museum specimens is urgent, (ii) museums need to
address the opportunity and responsibility for housing large numbers of barcode voucher specimens,
(iii) substantial resources need be mustered to support the taxonomic side of the partnership with
barcoding, and (iv) hand-held field-friendly barcorder must emerge as a mutualism with the
taxasphere and the barcoding initiative, in a manner such that its use generates a resource base for the
taxonomic process as well as a tool for the user.
