ArticleFrontiers in microbiology2016
Microbial Communities of Lycaenid Butterflies Do Not Correlate with Larval Diet.
Article in Frontiers in microbiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Gut microbiome of the grape berry moth,Microbial genomics · 2026Article
- Gut dysbiosis in multiple sclerosis patients: a comparative analysis in fecal samples.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- More Than a Stick in the Mud: Eelgrass Leaf and Root Bacterial Communities Are Distinct From Those on Physical Mimics.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Article
- Root inoculation with soil-borne microorganisms alters gut bacterial communities and performance of the leaf-chewer Spodoptera exigua.Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Article
- Microbiome analysis of monarch butterflies reveals effects of development and diet.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- Concentration-dependent effect of plant secondary metabolites on bacterial and fungal microbiomes in caterpillar guts.Microbiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Gut microbiomes of cycad-feeding insects tolerant to β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) are rich in siderophore biosynthesis.ISME communications · 2023Article
- Feeding Spodoptera exigua larvae with gut-derived Escherichia sp. increases larval juvenile hormone levels inhibiting cannibalism.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Influence of native and exotic plant diet on the gut microbiome of the Gray's Malayan stick insect,Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Bee breweries: The unusually fermentative, lactobacilli-dominated brood cell microbiomes of cellophane bees.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Complex plant quality-microbiota-population interactions modulate the response of a specialist herbivore to the defence of its host plant.Functional ecology · 2022Article
- Fruit fly phylogeny imprints bacterial gut microbiota.Evolutionary applications · 2022Article
- Fungi are more transient than bacteria in caterpillar gut microbiomes.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The secret life of insect-associated microbes and how they shape insect-plant interactions.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2022Review
- Neutral Processes Provide an Insight Into the Structure and Function of Gut Microbiota in the Cotton Bollworm.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Differing Dietary Nutrients and Diet-Associated Bacteria Has Limited Impact on Spider Gut Microbiota Composition.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Vast (but avoidable) underestimation of global biodiversity.PLoS biology · 2021Article
- Tree diversity and functional leaf traits drive herbivore-associated microbiomes in subtropical China.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Herbivores possess many counteradaptations to plant defenses, and a growing body of research describes the role of symbiotic gut bacteria in mediating herbivorous diets among insects. However, persistent bacterial symbioses have not been found in Lepidoptera, despite the fact that perhaps 99% of the species in this order are herbivorous. We surveyed bacterial communities in the guts of larvae from 31 species of lycaenid butterflies whose caterpillars had diets ranging from obligate carnivory to strict herbivory. Contrary to our expectations, we found that the bacterial communities of carnivorous and herbivorous caterpillars do not differ in richness, diversity, or composition. Many of the observed bacterial genera are commonly found in soil and plant surfaces, and we detected known homopteran endosymbionts in the guts of homopterophagous species, suggesting that larvae acquire gut bacteria from their food and environment. These results indicate that lycaenid butterflies do not rely on specific bacterial symbioses to mediate their diverse diets, and provide further evidence of taxonomically depauperate bacterial communities among Lepidoptera.
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