Barcode Long Island Team Mariposa
Program:
Barcode Long Island
Year:
2021-22
Research Topic:
Biodiversity & trade
Taxonomic Group Studied:
Animals: Invertebrate

Project:

Identification of Butterfly species at Riverhead aquarium
Students:
Debora Zavala, Jeffry Ramirez, Derek Perez
School:
Glen Cove High School,
Mentors:
Kerry Bunyan

Abstract:

Our question that we hope to find a solution to is; are the butterflies given to the aquarium the actual species the institution expected. Specifically, we would like to work with their owl butterflies, brassolinae, if possible. We hypothesize that there may be a case of cryptic species when it comes to this butterfly, meaning they might all look very similar but could be different species. Our hope is that the Riverhead Aquarium would provide us with around 20 samples to complete this project. Once butterflies are obtained, they will be documented and their appearances will be recorded. We will use PCR to isolate the CO1 gene , and use barcoding results to identify the exact species on display at riverhead. We believe that we will find genetic differences between the samples even though they come across as being the same in terms of appearance.

Poster:

Team samples: