I would need to do some experiments on ant pupae, but I should genotype them before procedures. As such I would be needing some body part for DNA extraction. I know adults do well after one leg amputation, but I am not sure about pupae. Would anyone perhaps know if an ant pupa would survive a leg or wing amputation? Also, how could I be sure that the pupa is alive after 48h from amputation, since they do not move?
This is entirely speculative ..but if you just rise the pupae in sterile PBS, it should capture enough shed cells enough for genotyping by PCR ?
I am not sure if they should survive and this would not fit my experimental needs. I would need to collect them live from colonies, take a piece out, and have them sent alive for DNA extraction elsewhere.
Hmm unfortunately apparently they did not try amputation...
Just to add here the result of some tests with it: best body part to be removed in terms of successful survival were antennae. I tried removing one leg and wing buds but they "bleed" from it, thus resulting in partial survival about 50%. White-eyed pupae are much more fragile then older pupae. I used the antennae for genotyping with good results, either with one or two antennae of each individual.
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