66 



BAC 1 LLUS MELOLONTHAE Chatton 



Insects concerned: The cockchafer, Melolontha . melolontha ; 

 the silkworm, Bombyx mori; the gypsy moth, Porthetria 

 ( Lymantria ) dispar ; and Vanessa urticae . 



In experimenting with Coccohacillus acridiorum on cock- 

 chafers, Chatton (1913) noted a septicemia independent of 

 Coccohacillus acridiorum which he found due to Bacillus 

 melolonthae . The organism resembles Coccohacillus acri - 

 diorium hut is different in that it imparts a fluorescence 

 to the medium in 5 "to 6 days. This organism "behaved the 

 same way in "both the silkworm and the cockchafer, heing 

 virulent when injected and innocuous when taken into the 

 alimentary tract. 



For the action of the organism on Porthetria ( Lymantria ) 

 dispar and Vanessa urticae see Paillot (1916). 



*Chatton, E. 191'3 Septicemies spontanees a coccohacilles 



chez le,Hanneton et le Ver-a-soie. Compt. rend. acad. 



sci., 156, 1707, 1709. 

 Paillot, A. 1916 Les coccohacilles due Hanneton, Action 



pathogene sur quel que s chenilles de macrolepidopteres. 



Compt. rend. soc. Mol. , 79, 1102-1103. 



BAC 1 LLUS MELOLONTHAE L I QUEFAC I ENS ALPHA Paillot 



Insect concerned: The cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha . 



Paillot (1918, 1922) isolated three strains (alpha, 

 Id eta, and gamma) of Bacillus melolonthae liquefaciens from 

 diseased cockchafers. At various times he isolated 8 

 other "bacteria from the same source, the organism causing 

 the cockchafer infection varying with the locality. The 

 insects die from a septicemia, characterized "by non- 

 coagulahility of the hlood, which also "becomes more or 

 less turbid. The three strains of Bacillus melolonthae 

 liquefaciens are all gram negative, and vary greatly in 

 their morphologies. (See Paillot, 1933). 



*Paillot, A. 1918 Coccohacillus nouveux parasites du 

 Hanneton. Compt. rend, hehdom. acad. sci. , 167 , 10^6- 



1048. 



-*Paillot, A. 1922 Les maladies "bacteriennes des insectes. 



Utilsation en agriculture des hacteries entomophytes. 



Ann. Epiphyt. , 8, 95-291. 

 Paillot, A. 1933 L' infection chez les insectes. 535 pp. 



Imprimerie de Trevoux, Paris. 



