biostudies-literatureMcGreig SUK Research and InnovationDepartment for Environment Food and Rural Affairs732https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11508802biostudies-literatureUnknown15(10)Dietary analysis of herbivorous insects relies on successfully eliminating surface contamination. If this cannot be performed reliably, then it will not be possible to differentiate between plants that the insect is feeding on and plants the insect has been in contact with, either directly or via pollen. Methods in the literature often use bleach and alcohol washes to remove contamination. We perform a controlled metabarcoding baseline study on a herbivorous, xylem-feeding insect, the Meadow Spittlebug (<i>Philaenus spumarius</i>), using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing, and identify possible contamination that persists after washes. Despite the reported success of methods in the literature, we find that contamination is still present, leading to possible false-positive resultInsectsAssessment of Surface Sterilisation Approaches for the Removal of Pollen DNA from &lt;i&gt;Philaenus spumarius&lt;/i&gt;.PMC11508802BB/S016325/1ECM 18225BBS016325/1Pufal HJones EPMcGreig SHaynes EConyers CfalseAssessment of Surface Sterilisation Approaches for the Removal of Pollen DNA from &lt;i&gt;Philaenus spumarius&lt;/i&gt;.Dietary analysis of herbivorous insects relies on successfully eliminating surface contamination. If this cannot be performed reliably, then it will not be possible to differentiate between plants that the insect is feeding on and plants the insect has been in contact with, either directly or via pollen. Methods in the literature often use bleach and alcohol washes to remove contamination. We perform a controlled metabarcoding baseline study on a herbivorous, xylem-feeding insect, the Meadow Spittlebug (<i>Philaenus spumarius</i>), using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing, and identify possible contamination that persists after washes. Despite the reported success of methods in the literature, we find that contamination is still present, leading to possible false-positive result2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Sep2025-04-19T13:40:43.458Z2025-04-19T13:40:43.458ZS-EPMC115088023945230810.3390/insects15100732