Clark T B, Peterson B V, Whitcomb R F, Henegar R B, Hackett K J, Tully J G
Isr J Med Sci. 1984 Oct;20(10):1002-5.
Spiroplasmas were observed in seven species of the family Tabanidae (horse flies and deer flies). This is the fifth family of the order Diptera now known to harbor spiroplasmas. Noncultivable spiroplasmas were seen in the hemolymph of three species of the genus Tabanus, and cultivable forms were isolated from the guts of six species in three genera. Isolates from T. calens and T. sulcifrons were serologically similar and closely related to a spiroplasma in the lampyrid beetle, Ellychnia corrusca. These three isolates represent a new serogroup. Isolates from Hybomitra lasiophthalma were related to Group IV strains, while those from T. nigrovittatus and Chrysops sp. both represented new serogroups. At least some tabanids probably acquire spiroplasmas from contaminated flower surfaces. The possibility of vertebrate reservoirs for some tabanid spiroplasmas remains an open question.
在虻科（马蝇和鹿蝇）的7个物种中观察到了螺旋体。这是双翅目已知携带螺旋体的第五个科。在三种虻属物种的血淋巴中发现了不可培养的螺旋体，并且从三个属的六个物种的肠道中分离出了可培养的形态。从卡氏虻和沟额虻分离出的菌株在血清学上相似，并且与萤火虫Ellychnia corrusca中的一种螺旋体密切相关。这三个分离株代表一个新的血清群。从毛眼斑虻分离出的菌株与IV组菌株有关，而从黑纹虻和斑虻属物种分离出的菌株都代表新的血清群。至少一些虻可能从受污染的花表面获得螺旋体。某些虻螺旋体存在脊椎动物宿主的可能性仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。
