Sample information

Caught with tweezers on a hiking trail on the Pingry School Basking Ridge campus, flying low and landing on the ground. The ground was decently wet, having just rained a day ago.

Methods

Specimen 1 was collected and its DNA extracted using the DNeasy protocol. Two PCR reactions were run on the extracted DNA. The first used COI primers to amplify a region of the arthropod cytochrome oxidase I gene (~708 bp), confirming that intact arthropod DNA was present. The second used Wolbachia primers (~438 bp) to test for the bacteria. Each reaction included a positive control and a water negative control. Products were run on an 1% agarose gel (100V) with a 100bp DNA ladder and visualized under UV to compare band sizes against the controls.

Results

In the gel, the COI and Wolbachia samples were loaded into the top and bottom wells, respectively. The COI reaction in lane 2 produced a band at ~708 bp matching the positive control, confirming the extracted arthropod DNA was present. The positive control amplified cleanly at ~438 bp for Wolbachia (proving the primers and reaction worked), and the water negative control stayed clear (ruling out contamination). Knowing the PCR reaction worked, we know the absence of a band on the bottom well for lane 2 is a negative for Wolbachia.