A NEW SPIROPLASMA (ENTOMOPLASMATALES, SPIROPLASMATACEAE) RECORD FOR GEORGIA AND ATTEMPTED HORIZONTAL TRANSMISSION VIA PREDATION

Firefly larvae, Photuris lucicrescens and P. hebes, did not become inf ected with EC-I or HYOS-1 Spiroplasma strains after feeding on injecte d Tenebrio molitor pupae. P. lucicrescens and P. hebes larvae had natu ral Spiroplasma infections but no mollicutes related to strains EC-1 o r HYOS-1 were recovered. Injected T. molitor pupae carried both the HY OS-1 (I Ii 13) and EC-1 (10/10) strains for up to five days. Isolation s of naturally occurring spiroplasmas from P. hebes larvae and adults were identified as group XIX spiroplasmas. These isolations of spiropl asmas from Photuris spp. fireflies were the first isolates of group XI X from Georgia.