A Mistaken Symbiont of Oliarus cuspidatus

Abstract

BUCHNER¹ mentions somewhere in his work, unfortunately not available here, that in the absence of general knowledge of symbiosis, spermatozoa have been recorded in the literature when they were really bacteria. At least in one instance enthusiasm has led to a mistake in the opposite direction, for spermatozoa have been illustrated as bacteria. Oliarus cuspidatus is a Fulgorid insect which is supposed to contain as many as five tumours, each with a specific symbiont of its own ; this record being the highest claimed so far. It is a rare insect in Germany, where even Buchner was unable to procure any specimen for his own investigation. Šulc² found it near Brno in Czechoslovakia, and our knowledge of symbiosis in this insect is entirely due to him.