Abstract
Carotenoids play multiple roles in insects, including coloration and protection. Most insects can obtain carotenoids only from their diet. Therefore, carotenoids are proposed to reflect trophic chains and lifestyles of insects. We investigated the mini-ecosystem of a gall on a hawkweed Hieracium × robustum induced by the gall wasp Aulacidea hieracii (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) that is attacked by parasitoid wasp Eurytoma cynipsea (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae). The parasitoid larvae consume the gall wasp larvae that consume the gall tissues. We employed resonance Raman spectroscopy to trace the fate of carotenoids in living larvae and pupae of these insects. We showed that carotenoid composition in the parasitoid closely corresponds to that of its diet—the gall wasp. On the contrary, carotenoid composition in the gall wasp was independent of that in the gall tissues, and the carotenoid concentration increases as non-feeding larvae mature. Thus, A. hieracii is suggested as a candidate among insects to have the ability to synthesize and modify carotenoids. Our findings give rise to the question of the relevance of using carotenoids as markers of trophic flow in the gall community.
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Acknowledgements
Authors are grateful to Dr. V.E. Gokhman for the identification of insect species, Dr. M.V. Lavrentyev for the identification of plants, Dr. O. Sosnovtseva for the critical review of the manuscript; Dr. O.V. Sinichkina for consulting in insect physiology; O.V. Slatinskaya, M.G. Bokov, and E.S. Prikhozhdenko for the assistance in Raman measurements; E.V. Glukhanyuk for comprehensive assistance; Editors and anonymous reviewers for valuable advises to improve the manuscript.
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This research has been supported by the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Moscow University “Molecular Technologies of the Living Systems and Synthetic Biology”.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. EIN, DNB, and MIN obtained and analyzed Raman data; MIN and VVA collected and bred insects; EIN drafted the manuscript, and all authors discussed and edited the manuscript; VVA supervised the project.
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Nikelshparg, E.I., Bratashov, D.N., Nikelshparg, M.I. et al. Fate of carotenoids in the closed living system of gall–gall wasp–parasitoid. Chemoecology 32, 31–40 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-021-00364-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-021-00364-2