Presence of a Yeast in the Death Watch Beetle (Xestobium rufo-villosam De G.)

Abstract

MY attention has been directed to the paper by Campbell in the Biochemical Journal, vol. 23, No. 6, 1929, in which reference is made to the work of Uvarov (1928), who suggests that wood-eating insects may partially digest wood particles with the aid of the secretions or excretions of micro-organisms, or even digest the micro-organisms themselves. Campbell, as the result of his work, suggests that it is probable that intestinal micro-organisms play a prominent part in the biology of the larva. In view of these suggestions, it is thought to be of interest to direct attention to the fact that, whilst conducting an investigation under the direction of the late Prof. H. Maxwell Lefroy during 1924, I found that a yeast was invariably present in larvæ and adults of the death watch beetle. While no evidence was obtained that the yeast was actually concerned in the digestion of wood particles, a number of facts concerning the distribution of the yeast in the various stages of the insect was determined. Dr. S. G. Paine, of the Imperial College of Science, was also closely concerned with the investigation and made a number of attempts to cultivate the yeast.