New method to extract plant DNA from grasshopper guts improves understanding of plant-insect interactions

Grasshoppers may be small, but the damages they are causing to the U.S. agriculture industry are anything but. Every year, they feed on crops and on rangelands needed for raising livestock, costing landowners millions of dollars. Although they pose a major threat, grasshopper populations play a positive role in cycling nutrients from decomposing plant matter back into the soil. A new method to investigate their feeding patterns could be the key to a better understanding of the impact of grasshoppers on plant communities.

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