Mapping Lebanon’s hidden insect world, one barcode at a time

Lebanon is a country of striking ecological contrasts. Despite its small size (10,452 km²), it supports an estimated 9,000 species, nearly 0.8% of global biodiversity, owing to its unique position between three continents, its rugged mountains, and pronounced climatic gradients. Yet for all its richness, Lebanon’s insect diversity has remained largely uncharted territory, tucked away in outdated checklists and scattered museum drawers.

A new study published in Genome sets out to change that. At the Biodiversity and Functional Genomics Laboratory, of the Faculty of Sciences at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Prof. Bou Dagher Kharrat’s team advanced insect biodiversity knowledge by deploying Malaise traps at four sites across Lebanon’s main biogeographical regions between 2019 and 2021. This effort resulted in the country’s first comprehensive DNA barcode library for insects, a molecular fingerprint catalogue enabling rapid and accurate species identification, often beyond the limits of morphology alone.

What the barcodes revealed

The numbers are striking. Of the 5,747 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) (genetic units that closely correspond to biological species) identified from the survey, 56% had never been recorded anywhere else in the global reference database. That proportion of uniqueness points to high levels of endemism, not just within Lebanon but across the broader Levant region, whose insect fauna remains critically under-documented.

Across the 58,123 specimens, researchers assigned identities to 1,224 species spanning 20 insect orders. The five most abundant orders accounted for 95% of all specimens: Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants), Hemiptera (bugs), Coleoptera (beetles), and Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies).

This work builds on Lebanon’s earlier steps into molecular biodiversity science. After joining the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) in 2018, the team established DNA reference libraries for Eastern Mediterranean plants and mammals. The new insect dataset substantially expands Lebanon’s footprint in the global Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD).

Why it matters for the Mediterranean forest

Insects are the connective tissue of forest ecosystems (pollinators, decomposers, prey for birds and bats, agents of nutrient cycling). Understanding which species are present, where they occur, and how assemblages shift with elevation and land-use change is foundational to any credible monitoring or conservation programme. Lebanon’s steep topography, which compresses multiple climate zones into short distances, makes it a natural laboratory for studying how insects respond to environmental gradients, and how those responses may accelerate under climate change.

The new barcode library makes this monitoring possible at scale. Paired with metabarcoding and environmental DNA (eDNA) tools, it enables rapid, non-invasive assessments of whole insect communities from bulk trap samples or even water and soil, a gamechanger for long-term ecological surveillance across the Eastern Mediterranean.

Beyond pure science, the applications are practical. Better insect identification supports targeted management of agricultural pests and disease vectors, critical concerns in a region where food security and public health are increasingly under pressure.

A foundation, not a finish line

The authors are clear that this survey is a starting point. Expanding geographic coverage, including Lebanon’s under sampled southern regions and high-altitude habitats and broadening taxonomic resolution will be essential to fully capture the country’s entomofaunal richness. Further work integrating morphological expertise with molecular tools will help resolve the many BINs that remain unlinked to named species.

Yet for the Mediterranean forest research community, this study delivers something of lasting value: a robust, openly accessible baseline built on rigorous methodology. Its significance extends well beyond Lebanon’s borders.