Publication details
The interspecific variability of ladybird immunity and its response to stress conditions
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) are the family of more than 6,000 species of beetles living worldwide. They differ in size, colour, territory, but also by type of nutriment. The best known are species that prey on aphids and scale insects. But some coccinellid species prey also on other arthropods or consume plant food. We compared immune reactions of 24 selected species of this large family, especially European species. The determined concentration of circulating haemocytes, antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Micrococcus luteus) bacteria were compared with fundamental physiological parameter, the total concentration of proteins in haemolymph. The comparison of basic immune parameters focused mainly on differences between species varying in ecology and invasiveness. Since harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is an important invasive species, we further test its response to overwintering by measuring above mentioned immune parameters in individuals which were bred in different overwintering conditions. We have found that species from genera Harmonia, Ceratomegilla and Hippodamia have strong antimicrobial activity. Some other species, like seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) or two-spot ladybird (Adalia bipunctata), showed intermediate level of activity, but in many species we did not detected any antimicrobial activity against tested bacteria. Interestingly, three genera of ladybirds with strong immune activity had also the lowest concentration of proteins (50-80 mg/ml), whereas most of other species had concentration among 100-250 mg/ml. |