The study of ecological interactions between plants, phytophagous insects and their natural enemies is an essential but challenging component for understanding ecosystem dynamics. Molecular methods such as DNA barcoding can help elucidate these interactions. In this study, we employed DNA barcoding to establish hostplant and parasitoid interactions with hesperiid butterflies, using a complete reference library for Hesperiidae of continental Europe and north-western Africa (53 species, 100% of those recorded) based on 2934 sequences from 38 countries. A total of 233 hostplant and parasitoid interactions are presented, some recovered by DNA barcoding larval remains or parasitoid cocoons. Combining DNA barcode results with other lines of evidence allowed 94% species-level identification for Hesperiidae, but success was lower for parasitoids, in part due to unresolved taxonomy. Potential cases of cryptic diversity, both in Hesperiidae and Microgastrinae, are discussed. We briefly analyse the resulting interaction networks. Future DNA barcoding initiatives in this region should focus attention on north-western Africa and on parasitoids, because in these cases barcode reference libraries and taxonomy are less well developed.

中文翻译：

---

西部古北菊科蝴蝶-寄生蜂-寄主植物的相互作用：DNA条形码参考库

研究植物、植食性昆虫及其天敌之间的生态相互作用是理解生态系统动态的重要但具有挑战性的组成部分。DNA条形码等分子方法可以帮助阐明这些相互作用。在这项研究中，我们使用基于来自 38 个国家的 2934 个序列的欧洲大陆和非洲西北部的 Hesperiidae（53 种，占记录的 100%）的完整参考库，使用 DNA 条形码来建立寄主植物和寄生蜂与橙蝶的相互作用. 共有 233 种寄主植物和寄生蜂相互作用，其中一些通过 DNA 条形码幼虫残骸或寄生蜂茧回收。将 DNA 条形码结果与其他证据相结合，可以对 Hesperiidae 进行 94% 的物种级鉴定，但寄生蜂的成功率较低，部分原因是未解决的分类法。讨论了在 Hesperiidae 和 Microgastrinae 中潜在的神秘多样性案例。我们简要分析了由此产生的交互网络。该地区未来的 DNA 条形码计划应将注意力集中在非洲西北部和寄生蜂上，因为在这些情况下，条形码参考库和分类学还不够完善。