Predator body size and prey quality are important factors driving prey choice and consumption rates. Both factors might affect prey detection success in PCR ‐based gut content analysis, potentially resulting in over‐ or underestimation of feeding rates. Experimental evidence, however, is scarce. We examined how body size and prey quality affect prey DNA detection success in centipede predators. Due to metabolic rates increasin...

Insect parasitoids play a major role in terrestrial food webs as they are highly diverse, exploit a wide range of niches and are capable of affecting host population dynamics. Formidable difficulties are encountered when attempting to quantify host–parasitoid and parasitoid–parasitoid trophic links in diverse parasitoid communities. Here we present a DNA‐based approach to effectively track trophic interactions within an aphid–...

Molecular analysis of predation, through polymerase chain reaction amplification of prey remains within the faeces or digestive systems of predators, is a rapidly growing field, impeded by a lack of readily accessible advice on best practice. Here, we review the techniques used to date and provide guidelines accessible to those new to this field or from a different molecular biology background. Optimization begins with field c...

Soil food webs are particularly important in terrestrial systems, but studying them is difficult. Here we report on the first study to apply a molecular approach to identify species‐specific trophic interactions in below‐ground food webs. To identify the invertebrate predator guild of the garden chafer Phyllopertha horticola (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) whose root‐feeding larvae can be highly abundant in grasslands, a specific D...