Riptortus pedestris is known to acquire their symbiotic bacteria, Caballeronia insecticola, from soil environments in every generation. The symbionts have been demonstrated to affect behavioral and physiological traits of the host insect such as the enhancement of development. In particular, symbiotic effects on female adults could directly entail changes in their population growth. Therefore, we investigated a suite of symbiotic effects of C. insecticola on behaviors and fitness-related parameters of female R. pedestris. Overall, symbiotic females showed an behavioral enhancement in both feeding efficacy and movement capacity including walking and flight. In addition, the survival rates under exposure to overwintering conditions and insecticide resistance level were significantly higher in symbiotic females than the aposymbiotic. Finally, although symbiotic females exhibited shorter longevity, their fecundity was found higher compared to the apo-symbiotic.

• Joo-Young Kim(Department of Life Sciences, Gachon University, South Korea)
• Minhyung Jung(Department of Life Sciences, Gachon University, South Korea)
• Jung-Wook Kho(Department of Life Sciences, Gachon University, South Korea)
• Doo-Hyung Lee(Department of Life Sciences, Gachon University, South Korea)