Abstract
The intracellular yeastlike symbiotes in Laodelphax striatellus are destroyed by heat treatment (at 35°C for the first 3 days of the nymph). The heat treatment shows a deleterious effect on the adult moult; a number of the insects fail to emerge. The administration of cholesterol to the heat-treated insects largely promoted the adult moult. β-Sitosterol also had an effect on the recovery of the deleterious effect. The heat-treated 5th-instar nymphs fairly moulted by application of ecdysterone. The deterious effect seems to come from the collapse of the yeastlike symbiotes through steroid metabolism of the insect. The yeastlike symbiotes appear to play an important role in supplying sufficient sterol for the development of L. striatellus.
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