Comparative Assessment of Environmental DNA and Bulk-Sample Metabarcoding in Biosecurity Surveillance for Detecting Biting Midges (Ceratopogonidae)

Biting midges, Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are significant insect vectors capable of transmitting arboviruses, such as bluetongue virus, to livestock. New Zealand is free of Culicoides, and a national surveillance programme is in place for early detection of an incursion. Traditionally, insect trap samples from the surveillance programme are analyzed using morphology-based diagnostics under microscopes, which is time-consuming and relies on specialized taxonomic expertise. Here, we assessed the effectiveness of DNA metabarcoding using insect bulk samples and environmental DNA (eDNA) from liquid samples collected in surveillance traps. Two Cytochrome oxidate I (COI) barcoding primer sets were employed to study biodiversity and detect exotic species. Results indicated that DNA metabarcoding with homogenized insect bulk samples had a higher overall detection accuracy rate (over 81% for both primer pairs) compared to ethanol fluid-derived eDNA samples from traps (68.42% and 55.26% for the primer sets LCO1490/HCO2198 and mlCOIintF/jgHCO2198, respectively), based on congruence with morphological identification. Detection failures were likely due to eDNA extraction issues or low target species abundance. Both approaches showed similar insect community composition and diversity in the surveillance trap samples, suggesting the potential of DNA metabarcoding for biosecurity surveillance and biodiversity assessments. Overall, DNA metabarcoding using bulk insect samples could enhance the efficiency of Culicoides surveillance, reducing workload and screening time.