Beauveria bassiana infection alters colony development and defensive secretions of the beetles Tribolium castaneum and Ulomoides dermestoides (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Abstract

We studied the effect of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana strain GHA on a) colony development of the beetles Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Ulomoides dermestoides (Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) under laboratory conditions; and 2) the volatile blend released by both beetles, containing defensive pheromones, by using the solid phase microextraction technique. Colony development of both species was strongly altered 3 mo after treatment with B. bassiana, showing a significant reduction in progeny of 37.5% for T. castaneum and 50.0% for U. dermestoides. We also showed that the volatiles released by T. castaneum diminished close to 20% compared with those of healthy beetles, whereas in U. dermestoides secretions dramatically dropped to 5%, 7 d after immersion in 1 x 10(9) conidia per ml. These results suggest that after infection events take place, fungus-induced diminished secretion of the defensive pheromones may be a physiologic clue for behavioral changes in infected beetles.

• Authors: N Pedrini, M L Villaverde, C B Fuse, G M Dal Bello, M P Juárez
• Journal: Journal of economic entomology (J Econ Entomol) Vol. 103 Issue 4 Pg. 1094-9 (Aug 2010) ISSN: 0022-0493 [Print] England
• PMID: 20857716 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Animals
• Beauveria (physiology)
• Behavior, Animal
• Coleoptera (microbiology)
• Integumentary System (physiology)
• Species Specificity