We have a pleasure to announce that second publication related to the ECOPOND project was successfully published in the journal Diversity.
Please find details below:
Andrzej Antoł, Anna Maria Labecka, J. I. Ronny Larsson, Szymon Sniegula 2022 ‘First Record of Microsporidia Infection in the Damselfly Ischnura elegans Larvae: Temperature and Predator Cue Effects on the Host’s Life History’ Diversity 14(6), 428.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060428
Szymon Śniegula, representing Institute of Nature Conservation, PAS (Poland) and its WP5 leader: In this paper we report, for the first time, a microsporidian infection in laboratory-reared larvae of the damselfly Ischnura elegans. Infected larvae originated from field-collected adult females, were caught in southern Poland at the second half of the flight season (in August 2020). The article leads us to the conclusion that higher rearing temperatures and the presence of predator cues from the invasive alien signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) increased the number of infected larvae. Infected larvae had distorted wing development, and all individuals died before emergence. Hence, microsporidian infection in I. elegans larvae impacted damselfly morphology and life history. We propose that warming tem- perature and stress caused by non-consumptive effects triggered by invasive alien predators are possible factors that produce negative fitness consequences following microsporidian infection in a key amphibious ectotherm.
Experimental design. Initially, I. elegans eggs were assigned to groups receiving perch cues, crayfish cues or no predator cues. At hatching, the perch cues egg group was divided into perch-cues and no-perch-cues larval groups, and the crayfish cues egg group was divided into crayfish cues and no crayfish cues larval groups. The control group experienced no perch or crayfish cues in either the egg or larval stage.
The research leading to these results was funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014–2021, project no. 2019/34/H/NZ8/00683 (ECOPOND). A.A. and S.S. were supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (grant 2019/33/B/NZ8/00521) and the Institute of Nature Conservation. A.M.L. was supported by the Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University (N18/DBS/000003).