Evaluation of the overwintering success of two European microsporidia inoculatively released into gypsy moth populations in Maryland

doi:10.1016/0022-2011(89)90012-8

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

Volume 53, Issue 2, March 1989, Pages 235-240

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2011(89)90012-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

The overwintering success of two European microsporidia released into gypsy moth populations in Maryland during 1986 is compared. Even though the Vavraia sp. was not detected during 1987, the Nosema sp. was found at levels similar to those of 1986. Infection levels were 7.9% in first-instar larvae, 6.5% in later instar larvae, and 10% in adults. Vavraia sp. is not transovarialy transmitted. Nosema sp. is transmitted transovarialy, which may account for its overwintering success. Our study demonstrates that microsporidian pathogens can be introduced into gypsy moth populations through inoculative release of contaminated egg masses.

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  Utilize fine temporal resolution insect life cycle data derived from weather-driven insect simulation model (BioSIM) to bridge critical gaps in coarse temporal resolution defoliation field data.
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Foreign and domestic exploration for entomopathogens continues to provide candidate species for microbial control with environmental tolerances and host ranges that are appropriate for the systems in which they are used, as well as greater virulence and other beneficial traits. Pathogens that are useful as biological control agents have been discovered by fortuitous accident infecting insect colonies and in field collections, and in purposeful searches of exotic hosts and their relatives in the area of invasion, as well as in their area of origin. Some of these pathogens have been commercially developed as microbial pesticides. Case studies in this chapter highlight numerous successes in control of pest species with pathogens discovered in targeted explorations. New molecular and analytic techniques have the potential to increase the efficiency of pathogen exploration and identification.
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Host specificity of microsporidia pathogenic to the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.): Field studies in Slovakia
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Several species of microsporidia are important chronic pathogens of Lymantria dispar in Europe but have never been recovered from North American gypsy moth populations. The major issue for their introduction into North American L. dispar populations is concern about their safety to native non-target insects. In this study, we evaluated the susceptibility of sympatric non-target Lepidoptera to two species of microsporidia, Nosema lymantriae and Vairimorpha disparis, isolated from European populations of L. dispar and applied in field plots in Slovakia. Application of ultra low volume sprays of the microsporidia maximized coverage of infective spores in a complex natural environment and, thus, exposure of non-target species to the pathogens. Of 653 non-target larvae collected from plots treated with V. disparis in 2002, 18 individual larvae representing nine species in four families were infected. These plots were monitored for two subsequent seasons and V. disparis was not recovered from non-target species. Of 2571 non-target larvae collected in N. lymantriae-treated sites, one larva was found to be infected. Both species of microsporidia, particularly N. lymantriae, appear to have a very narrow host range in the field, even when an inundative technique is used for their introduction. V. disparis infections in L. dispar exceeded 40% of recovered larvae in the treated study sites; infection rates were lower in sites sprayed with N. lymantriae. Several naturally-occurring pathogens were recorded from the non-target species. The most common pathogen, isolated from 21 species in eight families, was a microsporidium in the genus Cystosporogenes.
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Vertical transmission and the overwintering success of three different microsporidia infecting Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) larvae were investigated. Endoreticulatus schubergi, a midgut pathogen, was transmitted to offspring via female and male via the egg chorion (transovum transmission). Between 8% and 29% of the emerging larvae became infected. No spores of E. schubergi were found in surface-washed eggs. Nosema lymantriae, a microsporidium that causes systemic infections, was transovarially transmitted. Between 35% and 72% of the progeny were infected. Vairimorpha disparis, a fat body pathogen, was not vertically transmitted. The infectivity of spores that overwintered in cadavers of infected L. dispar varied by species, placement in the environment, and weather conditions. Spores of E. schubergi were still infective after an eight month exposure period of cadavers on the ground. Spores of N. lymantriae and V. disparis remained highly infective only when cadavers overwintered under a more or less continuous snow cover for four months.
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A newly discovered microsporidium infecting the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), provisionally placed in the genus Canningia, was studied to determine its impact on O. sulcatus. O. sulcatus populations from several locations were sampled and evaluated for microsporidiosis. A very low prevalence of the disease was observed in all locations surveyed (<3.0%). Laboratory studies were conducted by orally exposing both larvae and adults of O. sulcatus to varying concentrations of Canningia sp. spores. Larval bioassays at a variety of dosages (0, 10, etc.) were performed to evaluate pathogen infectivity, larval survival and growth. Adult bioassays (dosages: 0, 10, etc.) were performed to evaluate longevity, fecundity and mechanisms of vertical pathogen transmission. Larvae and adults were infected in all spore treatments. Larval growth was significantly reduced at dosages above 10 spores/larva. Adults infected at all dosages experienced high levels of mortality and fecundity was reduced to zero. Greenhouse trials were performed to determine if larvae feeding in soil acquired infections when spores were topically applied as a drench application (0, 10⁵, 10⁶, 10⁷ spores/pot). Established larvae feeding on plant roots in pots developed infections when exposed to drench treatments of 10⁶ and 10⁷ spores/pot after 14–21 days. Canningia sp. is an acute pathogen of O. sulcatus infective to both larvae and adults. Topically applied spores also infected larvae feeding on roots in soilless potting media, suggesting the possibility of using this pathogen in a microbial control program.

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^☆: This project was supported in part by the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Natural History Survey Division, Contract IP-2 (The Gypsy Moth Research and Education Program); by Cooperative Agreement 23-158 with the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Hamden, Connecticut; by U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant AG 87-CRCR-1-2516; and by Hatch Regional Project NE-143.

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Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

Abstract

References (12)

Egg contamination as a method for the inoculative release of exotic microsporidia of the gypsy moth

J. Invertebr. Pathol

Microsporidian spores in gypsy moth larval silk: A possible route of horizontal transmission

J. Invertebr. Pathol

The gypsy moth and its natural enemies

USDA For. Ser. Agric. Inform. Bull

An evaluation of protozoal characteristics in relation to biological control of insects

Parasitology

Exploration for and importation of natural enemies of the gypsy moth, Lymantira dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), in North American: An update

Importance of silk trails in the diel behavior of late instars of the gypsy moth

Environ. Entomol

Cited by (22)

Linking frass and insect phenology to optimize annual forest defoliation estimation

Exploration for Entomopathogens

Microsporidian Entomopathogens

Host specificity of microsporidia pathogenic to the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.): Field studies in Slovakia

Vertical transmission and overwintering of microsporidia in the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar

Effects of a novel microsporidium on the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Evaluation of the overwintering success of two European microsporidia inoculatively released into gypsy moth populations in Maryland☆

Abstract

J. Invertebr. Pathol

J. Invertebr. Pathol

The gypsy moth and its natural enemies

USDA For. Ser. Agric. Inform. Bull

An evaluation of protozoal characteristics in relation to biological control of insects

Parasitology

Exploration for and importation of natural enemies of the gypsy moth, Lymantira dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), in North American: An update

Importance of silk trails in the diel behavior of late instars of the gypsy moth

Environ. Entomol