Identification of midgut bacteria from fourth instar red imported fire ant larvae, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

摘要

We studied the normal culturable bacteria found in the gut of the fourth instar of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Larvae were dissected under sterile conditions, and the guts were removed and homogenized in phosphate-buffered saline. After growing gram-positive bacteria from this homogenate, three of six isolates were identified with high confidence using both lipid and genetic analysis. Two of these bacterial isolates were identified as Lactococcus garviae and the third as Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The three remaining isolates were identified by lipid analysis as Enterococcus avium. However, these three isolates had a poor genetic match to that bacterium and may therefore be an unknown species.