Comparison of mosquito and fly derived <scp>DNA</scp> as a tool for sampling vertebrate biodiversity in suburban forests in Berlin, Germany

The use of invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) is a promising non-invasive tool to monitor wildlife. While most studies have been carried out in dense tropical and sub-tropical forests focused on the single category invertebrates, this study compares flies mosquitoes-derived assess vertebrate diversity semi-urban environments. We conducted our sampling four different forest plots Berlin, Germany. Pools non-bloodfed mosquitoes were metabarcoded using 108-bp vertebrate-specific 12 S rRNA (12 S-V5) 94-bp mammal-specific 16 (16Smam) mitochondrial markers, individual bloodfed sequenced 340-bp fragment (Mam-12 S-340). Most sequencing was only successful for mammal species. From fly pools, we detected 10 species 16Smam, six S-V5. mosquito amplified putative contaminant DNA, indicating that females without visual signs blood meal carry no traces DNA. Finally, mosquitoes, identified did not find significant differences proportion regarding total available number between localities. Fly samples easier obtain more abundant over sampled localities compared samples. conclude that, while there are few advantages meals, detection wildlife suburban environment effective terms collection vertebrates, although technique limited urban environment.