Using High-Throughput Amplicon Sequencing to Determine Diet of Generalist Lady Beetles in Agricultural Landscapes

Understanding feeding relationships is central to understanding biological control potential in the field. However, methods to differentiate actual (or realized) feeding relationships from potential feeding relationships is lacking especially for small, generalist predators such as lady beetles. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding approaches to characterize feeding relationships of lady beetles (Coccinellidae) in the field and to determine how agricultural landscape impacts prey richness, diet breadth, and intraguild predation.