insects Article New Light on Historical Specimens Reveals a New Species of Ladybird (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): Morphological, Museomic, and Phylogenetic Analyses Karen Salazar 1,2,* and Romain Nattier 1 1 Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, 75005 Paris, France;
[email protected] 2 Grupo de Investigación Insectos de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá 111321, Colombia * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 2 October 2020; Accepted: 27 October 2020; Published: 6 November 2020 Simple Summary: Biological collections are a valuable source of genetic information. Museomics in combination with morphological analysis is useful for systematic studies. Eriopis is a genus of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) that lives in South America. This study presents Eriopis patagonia, a new species of ladybird beetle discovered with two old specimens collected in Patagonia at least 100 years ago and deposited in a natural history collection. DNA was extracted from the specimens by a non-destructive method, allowing the specimens to be preserved again. The total gDNA was sequenced using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies. The genetic information obtained allows us to reconstruct and describe its mitochondrial genome and examine its phylogenetic position. Abstract: Natural history collections house an important source of genetic data from yet unexplored biological diversity. Molecular data from museum specimens remain underexploited, which is mainly due to the degradation of DNA from specimens over time. However, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology can now be used to sequence “old” specimens. Indeed, many of these specimens are unique samples of nomenclatural types and can be crucial for resolving systematic or biogeographic scientific questions.