Wolbachia infection and an all‐female trait in Ostrinia orientalis and Ostrinia zaguliaevi

Abstract

AbstractSex ratio distortion toward females (SR trait), induced by a Wolbachia bacterium, has been reported in two species of the Ostrinia furnacalis group, viz., O. furnacalis, and O. scapulalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). In addition, an SR trait caused by abacterial, unidentified agent(s) is known in O. scapulalis. Here we examined the SR trait in four other species of the furnacalis group, viz., O. orientalis, O. zaguliaevi, and O. zealis from Japan, and O. nubilalis from central and eastern Europe. Wolbachia infection was detected in three O. orientalis females and in one O. zaguliaevi female, and the infection was always associated with the SR trait. In terms of wsp and ftsZ gene sequences, Wolbachia strains in O. orientalis and O. zaguliaevi were indistinguishable from each other, or from those in O. furnacalis and O. scapulalis. These findings suggest that Wolbachia strains in the four Ostrinia species are probably identical. In addition, one O. zealis female, which was negative in diagnostic PCRs for Wolbachia and general bacteria, produced an all‐female brood. This trait was very similar to the SR trait caused by abacterial agent(s) in O. scapulalis.