moth pupa parisitized by fungi

Woody Woods woody.woods at umb.edu
Mon Aug 13 06:36:35 EDT 2001


Bill,

I'm afraid I can't help with the identification, but your post bears on a
question that might be worth investigating-- namely, possible defense
mechanisms employed by pupae. Do you know at what anatomical point the
fungus invades the pupa? Or, do you know of any literature on this?

I ask because measurements I have made of pupae of the sphingid Manduca
sexta (tobacco hornworm) show that while they "breathe" in bursts through
their spiracles at low temperatures, especially in diapause, this so-called
"discontinuous ventilation" does not result in any water savings-- the
reason often put forward for why some resting insects ventilate this way. I
am wondering if keeping the spiracles closed as much as possible during
pupation might reduce parasitism.

This is something I have been meaning to look at but haven't yet.  Any
thoughts or references?

Thanks,

Woody Woods

bill and Dale wrote:

> Everyone,
>      Regarding my question about identifying moth pupa that had been
> parasitized by the fungus Cordyceps militaris I need to make some
> clarifications.


--
*********************************************************
William A. Woods Jr.
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd                      Lab: 617-287-6642
Boston, MA 02125                        Fax: 617-287-6650
*********************************************************



 
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