KUDZU BUG GUTS AND MORE
THE KUDZU BUG (MEGACOPTA CRIBRARIA) HARBORS SYMBIOTIC BACTERIA IN ITS MIDGUT (ISHIKAWAELLA) THAT IN RELATED SPECIES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO INFLUENCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIET. MICROBIAL SYMBIOSES IN INSECTS CAN HAVE A MAJOR ROLE ON THE INSECT HOST'S FITNESS AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER FOR AGRICULTURAL PESTS LIKE THE KUDZU BUG, WHICH CAN SEVERELY IMPACT SOYBEAN CROPS.
WE ARE STUDYING HOW ARTHROPOD-MICROBE INTERACTIONS IN THE NORTH AMERICAN KUDZU BUG MAY BE IMPACTING THEIR PEST STATUS. THE PLANT DIETS OF THESE INSECTS IS AN IMPORTANT ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT THAT MAY ACTUALLY CHANGE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS OBLIGATE SYMBIOSIS ON THESE INSECTS. THE STUDY CENTERED ON AN OBLIGATE MICROBIAL SYMBIONT, ISHIKAWAELLA, AND ITS HOST, THE KUDZU BUG, MEGACOPTA CRIBRARIA, A RECENTLY INVASIVE AGRICULTURAL PEST.
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Even obligate symbioses show signs of ecological contingency: impacts of symbiosis for an invasive stinkbug are mediated by host plant context. couret et al. 2019.
