Sample information

The arachnid was found in a grassy park in a highly urban environment near a large river.

The temperature at the location was 34 °C during summer, in a climate where warm summers and very cool winters are expected.

The arachnid its self had 8 limbs, was light-brown to dark brown (particularly in the abdominal region, where it fades in a gradient from light-brown to dark-brown near the end of the abdomen), had darker spots around the exoskeleton, and was approximately 7.5 mm.

Methods

DNA Extraction

The extraction process went fairly well. The insect easily ground into a thin consistency. No errors were observed during the procedure, apart from an unknown amount of Buffer AW1 being added. However, that shouldn't matter as the amount is higher than 500ul, and it was being flowed through a filter at the end.

PCR & Gel electrophoresis

PCR was successful, with all controls returning the expected results. The gel electrophoresis was also successful; however, sample F1 on the CO1 gel had a very light line. This didn't impact results, however.

Results

Sequencing failed due to a lack of DNA in the PCR products. A potential source of contamination for this sample could be a hair falling into the sample during DNA extraction. The gel was faded, but still clear enough to see that it was positive for Arthropod CO1.