Endosymbiont load, personality and reproductive output of maize weevils ( Sitophilus zeamais )
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Endosymbiont load, personality and reproductive output of maize weevils (Sitophilus zeamais) Juliana L. Vieira1 · Raul Narciso C. Guedes1 Received: 23 June 2020 / Revised: 3 September 2020 / Accepted: 22 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Endosymbiotic association is frequent in insects, and endosymbionts influence a range of biological processes in these organisms. The endosymbiont–insect association and interdependence allegedly result from random selection where ecological trade-offs take place and usually differ between the involved species. Insect behavior is potentially affected by this association, but the focus in such studies is symbiont presence rather than load, and overall behavioral patterns, not the individual set of integrated behavioral tendencies (i.e., individual personality). This knowledge gap limits the understanding of how the endosymbiont–insect association affects insect behavior and how this translates into fertility, as a measure of fitness. Here, we assessed the endosymbiont load of maize weevils [Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)], which hosts two symbiont species—Sodalis pierantonius and Wolbachia, and their association with weevil personality and reproductive consequences. Thus, individual female weevils were subjected to oral administration of antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and tetracycline) to secure a range of symbiont loads, which were quantified by qPCR. Individual personality of these females was recorded before and after endosymbiont suppression, and also that of their progeny. Female weevils maintained their personality with symbiont suppression, which was not transferred to their progeny. Nonetheless, personality itself was more important in determining female reproductive output than endosymbiont load, which did not significantly alter individual integrated behavior. Thus, management tactics targeting endosymbiont suppression may not be as effective as initially anticipated, unless complete suppression of the obligatory symbiont S. pierantonius takes place. Keywords Stored product insects · Weevil fertility · Behavioral types · Endosymbiont suppression · Wolbachia · Sitophilus primary symbiont
Key message • The whole of endosymbiont load defining weevil behav-
ioral types, their generation and transgenerational consistency and implications for fertility were assessed. • Regardless of the antibiotic suppression of symbionts, the personality of weevil female parents was maintained, but not transferred to the progeny.
Communicated by Antonio Biondi. * Raul Narciso C. Guedes [email protected] 1
Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG 36570‑900, Brazil
• Reduction of the primary symbiont load in the paren-
tal females was transferred to the progeny, unlike Wolbachia. • Personality, but not symbiont load, was a significant determinant of fertility, mainly due to enhanced conspecific and reduced heterospecific interactions.
Introduction Individual insects c
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