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Molecular analysis of faecal samples from birds to identify potential crop pests and useful biocontrol agents in natural areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2015

R.A. King ,
W.O.C. Symondson  and
R.J. Thomas
R.A. King*
Affiliation:
Cardiff School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
W.O.C. Symondson
Affiliation:
Cardiff School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
R.J. Thomas
Affiliation:
Cardiff School of Biosciences, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: +44 (0)1392 725296 E-mail: R.A.King@Exeter.ac.uk
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Abstract

Wild habitats adjoining farmland are potentially valuable sources of natural enemies, but also of pests. Here we tested the utility of birds as ‘sampling devices’, to identify the diversity of prey available to predators and particularly to screen for pests and natural enemies using natural ecosystems as refugia. Here we used PCR to amplify prey DNA from three sympatric songbirds foraging on small invertebrates in Phragmites reedbed ecosystems, namely the Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) and Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti). A recently described general invertebrate primer pair was used for the first time to analyse diets. Amplicons were cloned and sequenced, then identified by reference to the Barcoding of Life Database and to our own sequences obtained from fresh invertebrates. Forty-five distinct prey DNA sequences were obtained from 11 faecal samples, of which 39 could be identified to species or genus. Targeting three warbler species ensured that species-specific differences in prey choice broadened the range of prey taken. Amongst the prey found in reedbeds were major pests (including the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea) as well as many potentially valuable natural enemies including aphidophagous hoverflies and braconid wasps. Given the mobility of birds, this approach provides a practical way of sampling a whole habitat at once, providing growers with information on possible invasion by locally resident pests and the colonization potential of natural enemies from local natural habitats.

Keywords

Acrocephalus schoenobaenusAcrocephalus scirpaceusCettia cettidietary analysisreedbed
Type
Research Papers
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 105 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 261 - 272
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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