Optimised for butterflies and moths — higher success rate than universal COI.
The MLepF1/MLepR1 primers were specifically designed for Lepidoptera and consistently outperform the universal Folmer primers for moths and butterflies. If you're working with lepidoptera, these are the primers to use.
Australia has over 22,000 described moth and butterfly species, with thousands more awaiting description — many can only be reliably identified by DNA barcoding, especially the micro-moths. The Australian Moths Online project (mothsonline.org) and Butterfly Conservation Australia showcase the incredible diversity.
Sampling tip: a single leg is sufficient — no need to damage wing patterns. Remove a mid-leg with fine forceps and place directly into the ethanol tube.
Reference: Hajibabaei et al. (2006) demonstrated that MLepF1/MLepR1 recovers COI from lepidoptera specimens where universal primers fail, particularly from older collection specimens.