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Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus

The ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens was studied on its invasive host, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis, in the Czech Republic. A primary aim was to examine the relationship between fungal infection and elytral coloration of the ladybird. Furthermore, the role of host sex and mati...

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Autores principales: Fiedler, Lukáš, Nedvěd, Oldřich
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6876665/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31765476
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez107
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author Fiedler, Lukáš
Nedvěd, Oldřich
author_facet Fiedler, Lukáš
Nedvěd, Oldřich
author_sort Fiedler, Lukáš
collection PubMed
description The ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens was studied on its invasive host, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis, in the Czech Republic. A primary aim was to examine the relationship between fungal infection and elytral coloration of the ladybird. Furthermore, the role of host sex and mating status of females were analyzed. Beetles (n = 1,102) were sampled during autumn migration, and then sexed, weighed, and screened for infection. Females were dissected for detection of sperm in their spermathecae. Ladybirds were sorted according to color form and absorbance spectrophotometry was used to quantify carotenoid contents in their elytra. In individuals of the nonmelanic succinea form, the degree of melanization was measured using digital photographs and putative age groups were estimated based on background color of elytra. Sexual differences in infection patterns indicated transmission during copulation: males were infected mostly on elytra and venter, and females had infection almost exclusively on elytra. Mated females had higher infection rate than virgins. There was no influence of genetic color form on the fungal infection. Putative age groups (visual sorting to yellow, orange, and red) correlated with fungal infection. Infected individuals had elevated elytral carotenoid levels in comparison to uninfected individuals, which could be explained by host age. Infection-free succinea beetles were extensively melanized because they emerged later in the season at lower temperatures which induced melanization. Overall, we highlight that H. axyridis is a multivoltine species whose age, if not taken into account in ecophysiological studies, might present a considerable confounding factor.
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spelling pubmed-68766652019-11-27 Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus Fiedler, Lukáš Nedvěd, Oldřich J Insect Sci Research The ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens was studied on its invasive host, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis, in the Czech Republic. A primary aim was to examine the relationship between fungal infection and elytral coloration of the ladybird. Furthermore, the role of host sex and mating status of females were analyzed. Beetles (n = 1,102) were sampled during autumn migration, and then sexed, weighed, and screened for infection. Females were dissected for detection of sperm in their spermathecae. Ladybirds were sorted according to color form and absorbance spectrophotometry was used to quantify carotenoid contents in their elytra. In individuals of the nonmelanic succinea form, the degree of melanization was measured using digital photographs and putative age groups were estimated based on background color of elytra. Sexual differences in infection patterns indicated transmission during copulation: males were infected mostly on elytra and venter, and females had infection almost exclusively on elytra. Mated females had higher infection rate than virgins. There was no influence of genetic color form on the fungal infection. Putative age groups (visual sorting to yellow, orange, and red) correlated with fungal infection. Infected individuals had elevated elytral carotenoid levels in comparison to uninfected individuals, which could be explained by host age. Infection-free succinea beetles were extensively melanized because they emerged later in the season at lower temperatures which induced melanization. Overall, we highlight that H. axyridis is a multivoltine species whose age, if not taken into account in ecophysiological studies, might present a considerable confounding factor. Oxford University Press 2019-11-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6876665/ /pubmed/31765476 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez107 Text en © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Research
Fiedler, Lukáš
Nedvěd, Oldřich
Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title_full Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title_fullStr Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title_full_unstemmed Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title_short Fifty Shades of the Harlequin Ladybird and a Sexually Transmitted Fungus
title_sort fifty shades of the harlequin ladybird and a sexually transmitted fungus
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6876665/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31765476
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iez107
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