Many insects require microbial nutritional symbionts for survival, and most of these are intracellular and transmitted maternally with high fidelity. We have been studying an arboreal leaffooted bug pest, Leptoglossus zonatus, which requires a bacterial symbiont, Caballeronia, but more unusually, the symbiont is a free-living soil bacterium that is acquired from the environment, each generation, in the second instar nymphal stage. The work I’ll describe is largely our attempts to understand how that acquisition takes place. Our overall conclusion is that it occurs imperfectly, with huge variation in L. zonatus life history and reproductive success depending on nymphal access to their obligate symbiont.
Event Speaker
Dr. Martha "Molly" Hunter