The impact of mixed infection of three species of microsporidia isolated from the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

Mixed inoculations of a microsporidian parasite with horizontal and vertical infections

“…Parasite complementation has been shown in multiple infections with different species of microsporidia (e.g. parasites of the gypsy moth, Solter et al 2002), where each species specialises in a subset of the resources provided by the host. This second hypothesis cannot be excluded in our experiment.…”

Studies on the impact of two Nosema isolates from Bulgaria on the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.)

“…isolates were produced by starving newly molted third-instar L. dispar larvae for 24 h followed by individual inoculation of the larvae in 24-well tissue culture plates with 1-ll spore suspensions in different concentrations recorded for each experiment pipetted onto a 2-mm 3 diet cube (Solter et al, 2002). For all experiments, only larvae that consumed the entire diet cube were used.…”

Microsporidian infections in Lymantria dispar larvae: Interactions and effects of multiple species infections on pathogen horizontal transmission

“…There are few records of naturally occurring mixedspecies microsporidian infections in Lepidoptera (Weiser et al, 1969;Solter et al, 2002). Most report Endoreticulatus mixed with either Nosema or Vairimorpha species (SmirnoV, 1965;Wilson, 1975;Wilson and Burke, 1978;Pilarska et al, 2001).…”

“…Most report Endoreticulatus mixed with either Nosema or Vairimorpha species (SmirnoV, 1965;Wilson, 1975;Wilson and Burke, 1978;Pilarska et al, 2001). Solter et al (2002) hypothesized that microsporidia may compete for hosts and that as a result, one species may eliminate another in a host population or prevent establishment in a biological control program. They studied the impact of mixed species infections in order to address potential competition between species in a host population.…”

“…The three microsporidian species studied by Solter et al (2002) probably utilize diVerent transmission pathways according to their primary sites of infection in the host . The relative success of the diVerent pathways could be aVected by the presence of a second, competing parasite.…”