10.5061/DRYAD.8720
Hrcek, Jan
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Miller, Scott E
National Museum of Natural History
Quicke, Donald L J
Imperial College London
Smith, M. Alex
University of Guelph
Data from: Molecular detection of trophic links in a complex insect
host-parasitoid food web
Dryad
dataset
2011
immature stages
cytochrome oxidase I
Diptera
2011-03-03T17:07:37Z
2011-03-03T17:07:37Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03016.x
1654648 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Previously, host-parasitoid links have been unveiled almost exclusively by
time-intensive rearing, while molecular methods were used only in simple
agricultural host-parasitoid systems in the form of species specific
primers. Here we present a general method for molecular detection of these
links applied to a complex caterpillar-parasitoid food web from tropical
rainforest of Papua New Guinea. We DNA barcoded hosts, parasitoids and
their tissue remnants and matched the sequences to our extensive library
of local species. We were thus able to match 87% of host sequences and 36%
of parasitoid sequences to species, and infer subfamily or family in
almost all cases. Our analysis affirmed 93 hitherto unknown trophic links
between 37 host species from a wide range of Lepidoptera families and 46
parasitoid species from Hymenoptera and Diptera by identifying DNA
sequences for both the host and the parasitoid involved in the
interaction. Molecular detection proved especially useful in cases where
distinguishing host species in caterpillar stage was difficult
morphologically, or when the caterpillar died during rearing. We have even
detected a case of extreme parasitoid specialization in a pair of
Choreutis species which do not differ in caterpillar morphology and
ecology. Using the molecular approach outlined here leads to better
understanding of parasitoid host specificity, opens new possibilities for
rapid surveys of food web structure and allows inference of species
associations not already anticipated.
dataset recordsList of all 392 records in the dataset, including ones we
failed to sequence.dataset sequencesAll 322 sequences from the
dataset.host reference recordsA selection of 153 records relevant to the
dataset from the Lepidoptera reference library.host reference sequencesA
selection of 153 sequences relevant to the dataset from the Lepidoptera
reference library.parasitoid reference recordsA selection of 329 records
relevant to the dataset from the parasitoid reference library.parasitoid
reference sequencesA selection of 329 sequences relevant to the dataset
from the parasitoid reference library.
Papua New Guinea