DNA barcoding is the use of a particular set of gene sequences as unique identifier for a taxon. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBoL) requested the fruit fly taxonomists’ community to develop barcodes for all major pest fruit flies, the majority of their congeners and a representative number of outlyers within the family Tephritidae. Large part of this initiative will use museum specimens to extract DNA from.

Chairman: Prof. Bruce McPheron (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
Co-ordinators: Dr  Marc De Meyer, Dr Allen Norrbom (Smithsonian Institution, USA)
Funding: United States Department of Agriculture, PennState University, Belgian Science Policy
Collaboration with several natural history institutions worldwide