THE DIGESTION OF WOOD BY INSECTS AND THE SUPPOSED ROLE OF MICRO‐ORGANISMS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary: The relation between certain insects and the intracellular micro‐organisms they harbour is obscure and cannot be described as symbiotic for the following reasons: Sterile mycetomes are known to occur in some species closely related to others with heavily infected mycetomes. Defloration experiments have been carried out successfully without any harmful effect to the host insect. Intracellular micro‐organisms in xylophagous insects cannot be considered as playing an important role in the digestion of wood for the following reasons: In weevils with wood‐eating habits which have intracellular micro‐organisms, the latter only pass into the lumen of the gut of their host during the adult stage when the insect is not feeding on wood. Some wood‐eating species of insects harbour intracellular micro‐organisms, while closely related species with similar feeding habits are free from these. The intracellular micro‐organisms of some wood‐eating forms have been cultivated in vitro and found to be unable to break down cellulose. The relatively high content in nitrogenous substances of different kinds of wood, and the general occurrence of proteolytic enzymes in insects, make the assumption that intracellular micro‐organisms fix atmospheric nitrogen for the use of their host superfluous. The extracellular intestinal micro‐organisms of certain lamellicorn larvae and of some termites play no role in breaking down cellulose for the use of their host. They are utilised as a direct food source. Such insects are therefore better referred to as micro‐organism‐feeders. True wood‐eating insects derive the necessary carbohydrates from the wood they live on through the activity of their own enzymes. The enzyme complex in such insects has been found to vary from species to species. The carbohydrate components of wood vary in quantity in different kinds of wood. Some true wood‐eating forms depend upon starch and soluble sugars for their source of carbohydrates. Such insects have no cellulase and can consequently only live in kinds of wood comparatively rich in starch and sugars. Other true wood‐eating forms secrete cellulase and are therefore able to live in kinds of wood comparatively poor in starch and soluble sugars. The occurrence of hemicellulase has been demonstrated only in a very few cases and the value of the hemicelluloses as food for wood‐eating insects has not been thoroughly investigated.

This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit: