Zophobas morio is a tropical darkling beetle which is widely exploited for commercial large-scale insect growing. Outbreaks of a disease may occur causing total devastation of cultures. In the present paper, samples of diseased Z. morio were obtained and used for establishment of a laboratory model as they were found infective to the larvae of the same insect species from another source. It took about 1 month to develop symptoms of acute disease in mid-age larvae and about twice as much when younger larvae were used for infection. Affected larvae perished quickly, and within several days up to 90-100% of the colony could perish. Both in healthy and diseased larvae a virus was detected using PCR with degenerate primers specific for a gene coding for a nonstructural protein (ORF3). The sequenced gene fragment (Genbank accession #MN732869) confirmed allocation of the virus to Densoviridae, with maximal similarity of 97.2% to Blatella germanica densovirus-like virus (#JQ320376) and 66.2% to B. germanica densovirus (#AY189948). Genomic DNA samples of Z. morio larvae from an independent colony devoid of symptoms of a disease were also positive for this virus with a slightly different (99.7% sequence similarity to the former sequence of the Z. morio densovirus) genotype (#MN732870).
AbstractsPavela R., Žabka M., Kalinkin V., Kotenev E., Gerus A., Shchenikova A., Chermenskaya T. (2013): Systemic applications of azadirachtin in the control of Corythucha ciliata (Say, 1832) (Hemiptera, Tingidae), a pest of Platanus sp. Plant Protect. Sci., 49: 27-33.In 2010 and 2011, the efficiency of azadirachtin, applied as systemic trunk injections in the trunks of Platanus sp., was tested against Corythucha ciliata. Azadirachtin in the doses of 0.1 and 0.05 g of active ingredient per cm of diameter at breast height was applied in April. It was found that after application of both doses, the count of C. ciliata in planetree leaves significantly decreased. In 2010 and 2011, the average counted number of C. ciliata individuals in trees treated with the dose 0.1 g a.i./cm of dbh was 12.9 and 4.9, respectively, and 29.1 and 6.5 individuals, respectively, in trees treated with the dose 0.05 g a.i./cm of dbh, in the control it was 152.3 and 105.8 individuals, respectively.
The migratory locust Locusta migratoria and the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria are widespread species deleterious for agriculture and numerous efforts are aimed at development of effective and ecologically safe means to control these pests. Testing conidial suspension of entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana, Beauveria brongniartii and Metarhizium robertsii showed high mortality of both locust species reaching 95 ̶ 100 % in 5 and 11 days post treatment in first and third instar nymphs, respectively. The dynamics of mortality caused by the three fungal strains differed between L. migratoria and Sch. gregaria, demonstrating lower levels of susceptibility of the former species as compared to the latter one. Since desert locust inhabits arid, dry biotopes where probability of contacts with fungal pathogens should be lower, it is hypothesized can be assumed that higher vulnerability in this species would be substantiated by the absence of natural selection for resistance to fungal parasite.
Chorthippus loratus collected in Krasnodar Territory in 2017 was infected at 15% rate with a microsporidium possessing ovocylindrical binucleate spores, 2.6 9 1.2 lm in size. SSU RNA gene typing (Genbank accession # MH396491) showed its allocation to the genus Liebermannia. Degenerate primers based upon largest subunit RNA polymerase II (RPB1) sequences of closest relatives allowed amplifying the respective gene fragment of Liebermannia sp. (# MH396492). The present finding indicates worldwide distribution of the Liebermannia genus and parasitism in hosts with nonoverlapping geographic ranges (representing Neotropical versus Palearctic fauna), while previous observations were restricted to Acridoidea endemic for South America.
Cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera is one of the most polyphagous and cosmopolitan pests. Intracellular endosymbionts are widespread in Lepidoptera, often playing an important role in their dynamics. The prevalence of endosymbionts of cotton bollworm in Russia was not investigated. Cotton bollworm larvae and adults were collected in 2018–2020 in Krasnodar Area, and in Voronezh and Saratov Regions (from 131 to 170 insects) and analyzed by PCR using sets of group-specific primers for baculoviruses (locus lef8), bacteria of the genus of Wolbachia (locus wsp), and microsporidia (locus SSU rRNA). Level of infection with baculoviruses was 16 % for the sample of 32 individuals collected in Temryuk District of Krasnodar Area in 2018. The infection rate of the entire sample of 170 individuals was 2.9 %. The lef8 locus demonstrated 98.7–99.6 % of sequence similarity to the nuclear polyhedrosis virus isolates from the cotton bollworm and American bollworm. Among the tested 131 insects, bacteria of the genus of Wolbachia were not detected. PCR screening for microsporidia revealed one positive larvae among 19 insects collected in Krasnoarmeysk District of Krasnodar Area in 2019, which corresponded to the prevalence of 5 %. Partial sequencing of the genes coding for SSU rRNA and largest subunit RNA polymerase II made it possible to identify the new isolate as N. bombycis.
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