Occurrence of natural hemagglutinins in Halys dentata (hemiptera) during development

Abstract

Agglutinating activity of insect hemolymph against vertebrate erythrocytes and microorganisms has been reported by many workers (1,3,7,9,11,12,14). Recently, Bellah et al. (1) have detected thc presence of hemolymph agglutinin in 5-day-old last instar larvae of Philosamia ricini. They concluded that trier variations were related essentially to larval age. In holometabolous insects, complete reconstruction occurs during metamorphosis. Suzuki and Natori (14) reported a rhythmic pattern in the activity of hemagglutinins during larvalpupal and pupal-adult ecdysis in Bombyx mori. They further suggested that agglutinins may be absorbed to the surface of decomposed larval tissues and, therefore, may be functional in the immune surveillance of old tissue. Studies on the interrelationship of age (i.e., development) and titer of hemagglutinins in hemimetabolus insects are limited. Jurenka et al. (6) studied hemagglutination titer in relation to age in Melanoplus sanguinipes and reported the occurrence of lectins from 4th instar and throughout adulthood. They further concluded that hemagglutination liter varies with age and sex in this insect. In the present study, the hemagglutination titer was screened in 3rd, 4th, 5th instars and adults in relation to moulting and the age of insect to determine if there is a correlation between agglutination titer and development in hemimetabolous insect. The other objective of this study was to investigate the hemagglutinating activity of the serum of Halys dentata against the erythrocytes of different species of vertebrates and m i c r o o r g a n i s m s to d e t e r m i n e the binding specificities of the agglutinins.