Multiple causes of male-killing in a single sample of the two-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Moscow

Thirty-six matrilines from a single Muscovite sample of Adalia bipunctata were assayed, using appropriate primers, for presence of the four male-killing symbionts known to infect this species of ladybird. All four, a Rickettsia, a Spiroplasma and two different strains of Wolbachia, were found to be present. Vertical transmission efficiencies were assessed from F-1 and F-2 families from each of the matrilines, and were found to differ significantly between symbionts. Potential explanations of the presence of four different male-killing symbionts within a single population, are considered.