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.

洞悉喂养关系对于理解田野中生物控制的潜力至关重要。然而，区分实际（或已实现）的喂养关系与潜在的喂养关系的方法尚显不足，尤其是对于如瓢虫（Coccinellidae）这类体型微小、食性广泛的捕食者而言。在本研究中，我们运用DNA条形码技术对田野中瓢虫的喂养关系进行表征，并探讨农业景观如何影响猎物多样性、饮食广度和种内捕食竞争。