cotton fleahopper gut metadata

The cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter)) is an early season cotton pest but is also a generalist feeder and has been documented on over 135 different plant hosts from 35 families. Host plants were determined mainly by field observation or controlled lab feedings. To more accurately determine what the cotton fleahopper is eating under natural conditions, we collected cotton fleahopper nymphs from major known host plants and in fields of mixed plant composition. We then used amplicon sequencing with plant-specific primers to identify plant families injected by the cotton fleahopper. This proof-of-concept study is the first to show this techniques works in a mirid insect and ultimately will allow us to find what host plants cotton fleahoppers feed on prior to infesting cotton.