Acta Entomologica Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 60 ›› Issue (2): 163-172.doi: 10.16380/j.kcxb.2017.02.005

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Isolation and identification of egg-associated bacteria of Hermetia illucens (Diptera:Stratiomyidae) and their effects on its adult oviposition behavior

YANG Sen, LI Yan, MAI Yan-Na, RUAN Run-Tian, SONG An-Dong, WANG Feng-Qin, CHEN Hong-Ge*   

  1. (Key Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering of Agricultural Microbiology, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China)
  • Online:2017-02-20 Published:2017-02-20

Abstract: 【Aim】 To screen and identify bacterial strains isolated from Hermetia illucens eggs inducing the oviposition of Hermetia illucens adults and to discover the way of improving the egg collection efficiency in the process of artificial breeding of this insect. 【Methods】 Separation and pure culture of egg-associated bacteria were fulfilled by using brain heart infusion broth (BHI) medium, and the screened solo bacteria strain was fermented in shaking flask to verify the effects of these fermentation broths on adult oviposition behavior of H. illucens with the sterilized BHI medium as the negative control. 【Results】 Fifteen strains were obtained and numbered as EEAM-1, EEAM-2, EEAM-3, EEAM-5, EEAM-6, EEAM-7, EEAM-8, EEAM-9, EEAM-10A, EEAM-10B, EEAM-11, EEAM-12, EEAM-13, EEAM-14 and EEAM-15, respectively. It was found that five strains including EEAM-3, EEAM-6, EEAM-7, EEAM-10A and EEAM-10B significantly improved the fecundity of H. illucens adults, and they were identified as Bacillus tequilensisSerratia marcescensEnterococcus faecalisBrevibacterium sp. and Bacillus methylotrophicus, respectively,  through the morphology comparison, characteristics of colonies, 16S rDNA sequence analyses and phylogenetic tree construction. Especially, the fermentation broth of Enterococcus faecalis (EEAM-7) had the highest inducing effect on adult oviposition, 7.400-fold as high as that of the control group. The oviposition amounts in the treatment groups of the fermentation broths of B. methylotrophicus (EEMA-10B), S. marcescens (EEMA-6),  Brevibacterium sp. (EEAM-10A) and B. tequilensis (EEMA-3) were 6.531-, 5.100-, 4.187-and 2.636-fold as high as that of the control group, respectively. 【Conclusion】 The results indicate that the egg-associated functional bacteria of H. illucens affect the fecundity of H. illucens adults. This study will provide a theoretical basis for establishing the stable feeding system of H. illucens.

Key words: Hermetia illucens, bacteria, fermentation broth, oviposition, 16S rDNA