Evaluation of wing geometric morphometrics for species discrimination of Haematopota (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand.
4 affiliations
- 1Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
- 2Department of Pre-Clinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
- 3Department of Public Health and Health Promotion, College of Allied Health Sciences, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Samut Songkhram, 75000, Thailand.
- 4The Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MoZWE), Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
Abstract
Haematopota (Diptera: Tabanidae) comprises hematophagous flies of veterinary and medical importance, making reliable species discrimination important for understanding their diversity and potential significance. Quantitative wing morphology offers an opportunity to improve species differentiation. This study evaluated the utility of wing geometric morphometrics (GM) for distinguishing Haematopota specimens collected in Western Thailand. Four species, H. javana, H. libera, H. pachycera, and H. varifrons, were examined using two complementary wing GM approaches based on landmarks and wing outlines. DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene provided complementary molecular support for the morphological species assignments, although no matching reference sequences were available for H. varifrons. Wing shape demonstrated greater discriminatory power than wing size in both approaches. Landmark-based GM correctly classified all specimens, achieving 100% classification accuracy in leave-one-out cross-validation. Outline-based GM also performed well, with 97.78% classification accuracy. Landmark-based GM showed higher classification accuracy than outline-based GM, while outline-based GM offered a useful alternative when homologous landmarks could not be reliably digitized. The complementary use of DNA barcoding and wing GM may facilitate species discrimination in Haematopota and provide a basis for future studies incorporating broader geographic and population sampling.
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BibTeX
@article{somudorn2026evaluation,
title = {{Evaluation of wing geometric morphometrics for species discrimination of Haematopota (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand.}},
author = {Pichayapa Som-Udorn and Pattarakorn Khongtaweboon and Ayarin Wijitthavornkun and Sivapong Sungpradit and Tanawat Chaiphongpachara and Tanasak Changbunjong},
journal = {Current research in parasitology \& vector-borne diseases},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.crpvbd.2026.100447},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927189},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evaluation of wing geometric morphometrics for species discrimination of Haematopota (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Western Thailand.
AU - Pichayapa Som-Udorn
AU - Pattarakorn Khongtaweboon
AU - Ayarin Wijitthavornkun
AU - Sivapong Sungpradit
AU - Tanawat Chaiphongpachara
AU - Tanasak Changbunjong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases
DO - 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2026.100447
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927189
AB - Haematopota (Diptera: Tabanidae) comprises hematophagous flies of veterinary and medical importance, making reliable species discrimination important for understanding their diversity and potential significance. Quantitative wing morphology offers an opportunity to improve species differentiation. This study evaluated the utility of wing geometric morphometrics (GM) for distinguishing Haematopota specimens collected in Western Thailand. Four species, H. javana, H. libera, H. pachycera, and H. varifrons, were examined using two complementary wing GM approaches based on landmarks and wing outlines. DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene provided complementary molecular support for the morphological species assignments, although no matching reference sequences were available for H. varifrons. Wing shape demonstrated greater discriminatory power than wing size in both approaches. Landmark-based GM correctly classified all specimens, achieving 100% classification accuracy in leave-one-out cross-validation. Outline-based GM also performed well, with 97.78% classification accuracy. Landmark-based GM showed higher classification accuracy than outline-based GM, while outline-based GM offered a useful alternative when homologous landmarks could not be reliably digitized. The complementary use of DNA barcoding and wing GM may facilitate species discrimination in Haematopota and provide a basis for future studies incorporating broader geographic and population sampling.
SN - 2667-114X
ER -