Author
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Lord, Jeffrey |
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Submitted to: National Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 11/14/2004 Publication Date: 11/14/2004 Citation: Lord, J.C. 2004. Interaction of Mattesia oryzaephili with cephalonomia parasitoids of its coleopteran hosts, Cryptolestes ferrugineus and Oryzaephilus surinamensis. National Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The neogregarine, Mattesia oryzaephili, is pathogenic for several stored-grain pest insects, including the sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, and the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus. It also infects their respective bethylid parasitoids, Cephalonomia tarsalis and Cephalonomia waterstoni. Male wasps do not attack the beetle larvae and do not become infected, but the disease is transmitted per os to nearly all female wasps when they paralyze or feed on infected hosts. The mean survival time of diseased C. tarsalis after exposure to heavily infected O. surinamensis was 20 d. For C. waterstoni that were infected via C. ferrugineus, the mean survival time was 36.1 d, as opposed to 45.9 d for uninfected C. waterstoni. The long survival time of infected wasps allows for parasitoid oviposition and some transmission. The wasps oviposit on beetle larvae that have early stage infections, and their progeny succumb to the infection. They do not oviposit on beetle larvae with late stage infections that are macroscopically visible under ultraviolet illumination. Wasps may transmit the disease to beetles through their frass and serve as a dispersal vehicle and a source of inoculum after death. Attempts to achieve transmission by stinging were not successful. |
