The Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790) is the most dangerous and deadly pest of date, coconut, oil, sago and other palms. Recently introduced in the Mediterranean basin, it became the most relevant insect pest for ornamental palms in the urban environment. Given the development of an innovative control method based on symbiotic control, we have performed a pilot project to decrypt the microbiota associated to both adults and larval stages of the insect to identify potential tools for biocontrol agents against the Palm Weevil. A number of bacterial species were found associated with the insect. In particular, species of the genera Lactococcus, Proteus, and others were detected.

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Heterotrich ciliates typically retain toxic substances in specialized ejectable organelles, called extrusomes, which are used in predator-prey interactions. In this study, we analysed the chemical defence strategy of the freshwater heterotrich ciliate Stentor polymorphus against the predatory ciliate Coleps hirtus, and the microturbellarian flatworm Stenostomum sphagnetorum. The results showed that S. polymorphus is able to defend itself against these two predators by deploying a mix of bioactive sterols contained in its extrusomes. Sterols were isolated in vivo and characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as ergosterol, 7-dehydroporiferasterol, and their two peroxidized analogues. The assessment of the toxicity of ergosterol and ergosterol peroxide against various organisms, indicated that these sterols are essential for the effectiveness of the chemical defence in S. polymorphus.

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