Tropical Plant–Herbivore Networks: Reconstructing Species Interactions Using DNA Barcodes
Figure 1
Diet identification using DNA barcodes.
First we assembled a DNA barcode library containing sequences of all potential host plants (A). After collecting insect herbivores in the field (B), we extracted plant DNA from gut contents (C). Host plant identifications were performed by comparing DNA sequences extracted from insect herbivores to sequences in the DNA barcode library using the BLAST algorithm and default search parameters (D).