Sample information

The specimen was a yellowjacket wasp with a mostly black body, bright yellow markings on the abdomen, and yellow patches on the thorax. Its wings were narrow and translucent with a brownish tint. The legs appeared dark with lighter yellow areas near the joints. The specimen was wild-caught outdoors and was intact enough for the body markings to be clearly observed under magnification.

Methods

Two separate PCR reactions were analyzed, an arthropod COI PCR and a Wolbachia 16S PCR. The submitted wasp sample produced a visible band on the arthropod COI gel, indicating that arthropod DNA was successfully extracted and amplified. The wasp sample did not produce a visible band on the Wolbachia 16S gel. The Wolbachia-positive DNA control produced a visible band, while the negative control and water control did not produce visible bands. The positive-control Drosophila lane did not show a clear visible band on the Wolbachia gel.

Results

I selected medium confidence because the wasp sample produced a visible COI band, showing that DNA extraction and PCR amplification were successful. The wasp did not produce a visible Wolbachia 16S band. The Wolbachia-positive DNA control produced a band, and the negative and water controls did not produce bands, which supports a Wolbachia-negative result. However, the positive-control Drosophila lane did not show a clear band on the Wolbachia gel, so the result should be interpreted with some caution.