Denise L. Johanowicz1, Marjorie A. Hoy1
1Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611‐0620, USA
Tóm tắt
AbstractTwo experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between rearing temperatures, the presence or absence of Wolbachia endosymbionts, and non‐reciprocal reproductive incompatibility in inbred lines of the parahaploid phytoseiid mite Metaseiulus occidentalis (Nesbitt) (Acari: Phytoseiidae).Heat‐treated females crossed with infected males reared at room temperature produced few eggs and high proportions of shriveled eggs. No female progeny were produced. The reciprocal cross was normal. A second experiment showed that the incompatible cross from the first experiment could be made compatible if the infected line was heat‐treated and those males crossed with the original heat‐treated females. Furthermore, a new incompatibility was induced in a formerly compatible cross when the newly heat‐treated females were crossed with males from their base colony. Heat‐treatment was correlated with the loss of Wolbachia in both experiments. Wolbachia may thus affect non‐reciprocal reproductive incompatibility in M. occidentalis, and may produce a unique incompatibility phenotype in this parahaploid species, including both reduced numbers of male progeny and a lack of female progeny.
