AUTHOR S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED 

 BY THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, MARCH 31 



A NUTRITIONAL STUDY OF INSECTS, WITH SPECIAL 



REFERENCE TO MICROORGANISMS 



AND THEIR SUBSTRATA^ 



J. PERCY BAUMBERGER 



Bussey Institution for Research in Applied Biology, Harvard University 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 2 



Experiments 3 



1. Food of an insect (Drosophila) living in fermenting fruit 3 



A. Method and initial observations: a) Solid media for Drosophila; b) 



Preliminary observations on the food of Drosophila; c) Habits 

 of adults and larvae; d)Ecology of cultures; e) Media for geneti- 

 cal work; f) Are living yeasts present in the egg or pupa? g) 

 Sterilization of pupae; h) Test of sterility 3 



B. Food of Drosophila: a) Growth of sterile larvae on sterile fruit; b) 



Is fruit the food for larvae or merely the substratum for yeast 

 cells? c) Are products of fermentation essential food re- 

 quirements of larvae? d) Is yeast a complete food for larvae? 

 e) Can larvae complete their growth on any vegetable food 

 other than yeast? f) Is yeast a more adequate food than fruit 

 because of its higher rotein content? g) Conclusions 11 



C. Discussion: a) Effect of food on larval, pupal, and adult life; b) 



Sugar requirement of adults and larvae; c) Natural habitat; d) 

 Function of yeast in the ecology of Drosophila; e) Literature 

 on the food of Drosophila 26 



2. Experiments with a sarcophagous insect (Desmometopa) 43 



3. Experiments with a coprophagous insect (Musca domestica) 43 



4. Experiments with a mycetophagous insect (Sciara) and a mite (Tyro- 



glyphus) living in decaying wood: a) Experiments with Sciara; 

 b) Experiments with Tyroglyphus; c) Association of wood-eating 



insects with fungi 47 



Extent of mycetophagy among insects 58 



Microorganisms as liquefiers of the substratum 64 



Odors attractive to insects 67 



Microorganisms as food of other animals 69 



Microorganisms as internal symbionts of insects 72 



Conclusion 74 



Bibliography 75 



^ Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institute, 

 Harvard University. 



1 



