Molecular and Morphological identification of the genus Dineutus MacLeay, 1825 (Coleoptera, Gyrinidae) from Eastern Ghats, India

The present study is on the morphology and molecular data of the genus Dineutus MacLeay, were collected from the Eastern Ghats mountains in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu states located in the eastern Ghats of India. The morphological identification was based on elytral spines, setation on paramere and structure of the median lobe. Molecular characterization was based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16s ribosomal RNA gene. Species identified as being D. indicus, D. spinosus, and D. unidentatus. Phylogenetic trees were constructed for both genes, and the COI fragment shows raw genetic distance between 10–12% among the three species of D. indicus, D. spinosus and D. unidentatus, whereas 16s gene shows a divergence of 4–5%. The present study contributes five novel mitochondrial COI and five ribosomal RNA sequences for D. spinosus and D. unidentatus for the first time from India.