Summary
Diagnostic studies on the relationship between Drosophila willistoni and Nosema kingi revealed that adult D. willistoni can acquire the microsporidian via the oral route from fecal contamination and transovarially. At least 50% of the flies exposed to fecal material from infected flies contained the parasite when examined two or three weeks later. 50–81% of the offspring which emerged from eggs laid by parasitized females were infected with N. kingi 14–21 days later.
Infectivity experiments using other drosophilids indicated N. kingi infections can be transmitted to D. sturtevanti Duda, D. melanogaster Meigen, D. persimilis Dobzhansky and Epling, D. pseudoobscura Frolowa, D. virilis Sturtevant, D. simulans Sturtevant, and D. ananassae Doleshall without morphological changes occurring in the stages of the parasite and without changes of behavioural patterns in these experimental hosts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brooks, W.M.: Transovarian transmission of Nosema heliothidis in the earworm, Heliothis zea. J. Invert. Path. 11, 511–512 (1968)
Burnett, R.G., King, R.: Observations on a microsporidian parasite of Drosophila willistoni Sturtevant. J. Invert. Path. 4, 104–112 (1962)
Kellen, W., Chapman, H., Clark, T., Lindegreen, J.: Transmission of some Thelohania (Nosematidae: Microsporidia) in mosquitoes of California and Louisiana. J. Invert. Path. 8, 355–359 (1966)
Kramer, J.P.: Some relationships between Perezia pyraustae Paillot (Sporozoa: Nosematidae) and Pyrausta nubilalis (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). J. Invert. Path. 1, 25–33 (1959)
Kramer, J.P.: Nosema kingi sp.n., a microsporidian from Drosophila willistoni Sturtevant, and its infectivity for other muscoids. J. Invert. Path. 6, 491–499 (1964)
Kramer, J.J.: Differential germination among spores of the microsporidian Octosporea muscadomesticae. Z. Parasitenk. 41, 61–64 (1972)
Sokoloff, A.: A simple technique for ridding Tribolium cultures of parasites. Tribolium Inform. Bull. 5, 48 (1962)
Steinhaus, E.A.: Insect pathology: An advanced treatise, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press 1963
Thomson, H.: Some aspects of the epidemiology of a microsporidian parasite of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.). Canad. Soc. Zool. 36, 309–316 (1958)
Weiser, J.: Monographien zur angew. Entomologie (Informal translation by L. Szalay and J.P. Kramer). Beihefte A. angew. Entomol. 17 (1961)
Wilson, G.: Studies on Nosema fumiferanae, a microsporidian parasite of Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 1972
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Armstrong, E. Transmission and infectivity studies on Nosema kingi in Drosophila willistoni and other drosophilids. Z. Parasitenk 50, 161–165 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380520
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380520