Identifying predators of Halyomorpha halys using molecular gut content analysis

Halyomorpha halys is an invasive pest of agriculture in the United States. Because of its status as an invasive pest, H. halys exists in the US without coevolved natural enemies. In order to design effective biological control programs for this pest, we need to identify the predators affecting H. halys in its invaded range. Molecular analysis of predator gut contents can provide this information. Two methods for amplifying H. halys DNA have been develeoped: a standard method targeting a segment of the CO1 region of the mitochondrial genome and a next-gen qPCR technique amplifying a portion of the ITS region of the ribosomal genome. The sensitivities of these methods were compared by analyzing the gut contents of H. halys-fed predators killed at various time intervals after feeding. Additionally, potential H. halys predators have been collected from the field and are undergoing genetic analysis with these methods.