Data from: Molecular analysis of parasitoid linkages (MAPL): gut contents of adult parasitoid wasps reveal larval host

Metamorphosing insects often have complex and poorly known life-histories.
In particular, what they feed on during their larval stages remains
unknown for the vast majority of species and its documentation only
results from difficult and time-intensive field observations, rearing or
dissections. Through the application of a DNA analysis of gut contents in
adult parasitoid wasps, we were able to selectively sequence a diagnostic
DNA marker that permitted the identification of the host used by these
wasps during their larval stages. By reproducing these results in species
with different life-histories, we excluded other potential sources of host
DNA, confirming that after ingestion by the parasitoid larva the host DNA
can persist through metamorphosis in the abdominal contents of the adult
wasp. Our discovery considerably extends the applicability of molecular
analysis of gut contents by enabling documentation of the food used by
insects during their larval stages and thus increasing the accuracy and
precision of food web-studies. The 24% success rate of our approach is
surprisingly high considering the challenging context for host DNA
preservation, and we discuss the factors possibly affecting this rate. We
propose Molecular Analysis of Parasitoid Linkages (MAPL) as a new method
to document host-parasitoid associations at a faster pace and with
unrivalled precision. Because of the key regulatory role of parasitoid
wasps in ecosystems, which makes them the most commonly used biological
control agents, MAPL will have immediate applications in both basic and
applied biological sciences.