UCE target enrichment of Pogonomyrmex spp.
DNA extractions were conducted at the Field Museums Pritzker DNA laboratory from 2008 to 2011 and at Cornell University in 2020, 2021, and 2023. The majority of DNA was extracted destructively from whole ant specimens preserved in ethanol using the DNEasy/MoBio PowerSoil Kit (Qiagen). A smaller number of DNA samples were extracted non-destructively using the DNEasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen) from pinned specimensspecimens were left intact, save for a small hole pierced in the thorax (P.S. Ward, 2019 protocol). A Qubit fluorometer (Life Technologies Inc.) was used for DNA quantification after extraction. Samples that were destructively extracted were diluted appropriately and sheared to a target size of 500 bp using a sonicator (Covaris). This sheared DNA, as well as non-sheared DNA from non-destructively extracted specimens, was used as input for library preparation.