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...