All insects are colonized by microorganisms on the insect exoskeleton, in the gut and
hemocoel, and within insect cells. The insect microbiota is generally different from …

Herbivory, defined as feeding on live plant tissues, is characteristic of highly successful and
diverse groups of insects and represents an evolutionarily derived mode of feeding. Plants …

Many eukaryotes have obligate associations with microorganisms that are transmitted
directly between generations. A model for heritable symbiosis is the association of aphids, a …

Ecological specialization to restricted diet niches is driven by obligate, and often maternally
inherited, symbionts in many arthropod lineages. These heritable symbionts typically form …

Vertically transmitted endosymbionts persist for millions of years in invertebrates and play an
important role in animal evolution. However, the functional basis underlying the …

The pine weevil (Hylobius abietis), a major pest of conifer forests throughout Europe, feeds
on the bark and cambium, tissues rich in terpenoid resins that are toxic to many insect …

Symbiotic associations are widespread in nature and represent a driving force in evolution.
They are known to impact fitness, and thereby shape the host phenotype [1–4]. Insects …

Beetles, representing the majority of the insect species diversity, are characterized by thick
and hard cuticle, which plays important roles for their environmental adaptation and …

Symbiotic associations between animals and microbes are ubiquitous in nature, with an
estimated 15% of all insect species harboring intracellular bacterial symbionts. Most …

Many insects are ubiquitously associated with multiple endosymbionts, whose infection
patterns often exhibit spatial and temporal variations. How such endosymbiont variations are …