Kuprin Alexander, Baklanova Vladislava, Khandy Maria, Grinchenko Andrei, Kumeiko Vadim
Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690022, Russia.
School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, Russky Island, Vladivostok 690091, Russia.
Insects. 2024 Jun 8;15(6):435. doi: 10.3390/insects15060435.
The rearing of saproxylic insects in laboratory conditions is an important task for studying the biology of insects. Through understanding nutritional needs, it is possible to optimize beetle rearing in laboratory conditions. In this study, an artificial fungi-based diet (FD) was developed for the cultivation of the darkling beetle (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in laboratory conditions as a model object for studying the biology of saproxylophagous beetles. To assess the influence of the diet, a number of physiological parameters were measured, including development time, body size, and weight of all stages of the beetle's life cycle, as well as its immune status. The immune status of was assessed on the basis of larval hemolymph antibacterial activity against six different bacterial strains assessed using disk-diffusion and photometric tests. Our findings show that the FD reduces development time and boosts the immune status as compared to beetles reared on a standard diet (SD). Samples from FD-reared larvae had pronounced antibacterial activity as compared to samples from SD-reared larvae. This work is of fundamental importance for understanding the correlations between nutrition and development of saproxylic Coleoptera and is the first report on immune status regulation in this group of insects.
在实验室条件下饲养蛀木昆虫是研究昆虫生物学的一项重要任务。通过了解营养需求，有可能在实验室条件下优化甲虫饲养。在本研究中，开发了一种基于人工真菌的饲料（FD），用于在实验室条件下饲养暗黑鳃金龟（Fabricius，1775）（鞘翅目：拟步甲科），作为研究食木甲虫生物学的模型对象。为了评估该饲料的影响，测量了一些生理参数，包括甲虫生命周期各阶段的发育时间、体型和体重，以及其免疫状态。基于幼虫血淋巴对六种不同细菌菌株的抗菌活性，通过纸片扩散法和光度测试评估暗黑鳃金龟的免疫状态。我们的研究结果表明，与以标准饲料（SD）饲养的甲虫相比，FD缩短了发育时间并提高了免疫状态。与SD饲养的幼虫样本相比，FD饲养的幼虫样本具有明显的抗菌活性。这项工作对于理解食木鞘翅目昆虫营养与发育之间的相关性具有重要意义，并且是关于该类昆虫免疫状态调节的首篇报道。
