Dear colleagues, I have larvae of one species of crabronid wasps, which are variously coloured - usually yellow but also orange, reddish, purple. I would like to know how many pigments are responsible for this colouration and which pigments are they. The prey of larvae are aphids and it seems the pigments are carotenoids or aphidines. Could anyone help me with this? I can send frozen or alive larvae of various colours by mail and can offer co-authorship on a paper.
Many thanks and best regards,
Petr
It would be good to do mass spectrometry.
Article Identification of carotenoids using mass spectrometry
Dear Petr, previous studies on Aculeata (e.g. in adult Bombus and adult pteromalid wasps) showed that eumelanin and pheomelanin at different proportions are responsible for an important part of coulour variability (of hairs in case of Bombus). There is also some data published on Mutillidae which reasonably agree with this scenario. Some colours, however, are likely due also to the presence of other pigments, still not very understood. However, larvae may be another story and thus it is really interesting that you want to go through this topic! I would suggest first to check with Raman Spectroscopy if eumenlanin and pheomelanin occur, which has the advantage to preserve the individuals intact. Then, Mass Spectrometry would be necessary to go deeper. I have done the first type of analyses in the past (Raman), but not a pigment analysis with the second technique (Mass-Sp). Best regards, Carlo
Dear Petr,
which is the aphid species used as larvae prey?
I'm just asking this because in some aphid species, colour is linked to endosymbiotic bacteria producing reddish dyes.
so if not a question of own eumelanin or pheomelanin, as suggested by Carlo Polidori, check presence of Serratia symbiotica in the aphids and then in your cabronid species.
Best regards,
Beatriz
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Microbiology
- Virology
- Virus