CHAPTER FIVE 

 HOST SPECIFICITY OF BURENELLA DIMORPHA 



Until recently, microsporidia were generally assiimed 

 to be highly host specific, and the discovery of an infection 

 in a new host frequently led to the description of a new 

 species. Now microsporidia are known to vary greatly in 

 host specificity. Some species, particularly the parasites 

 of lepidoptera, are able to infect numerous hosts in different 

 genera, families, and even orders. Other species appear 

 to be highly host specific; however, in some cases the diffi- 

 culty of transmitting infection in the laboratory makes 

 it impossible to determine host range. The host ranges 

 of only a few species have been extensively investigated 

 (Brooks, 1974). 



The successful per os transmission of B. dimorpha infec- 

 tion to healthy colonies of S. invicta , S^. richteri , and 

 the southern fire ant, Solenopsis xyloni McCook, as well 

 as the natural host, S^. geminata , was reported by Jouvenaz 

 and Hazard (1978). High rates of infection were obtained 

 in colonies of these species by feeding them spores mixed 

 with boiled egg yolk. The infected pupae exhibited typical 

 pathognomonic signs, and Jouvenaz and Hazard concluded that 

 "the course of the disease is identical in all four species." 

 (p. 27) 



27 



