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VOL. 11, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Scanning electron microscopy based morphological characterization and prevalence of microsporidia in hymenopteran insects
Authors
Mukta Mayee Kumbhar, Suman Mishra
Abstract
Microsporidia are considered to be highly
diverse and ubiquitous intracellular parasites in the environment. They are
known to infect almost all animal phyla but most prevalent in fish and
arthropods. Among the insect orders, the order hymenoptera includes insects
which are indispensable for pollination, biological control, and ecosystem
functioning. However, they are infected by a number of fungal pathogens
particularly microsporidia, that substantially reduce these benefits, essential
for agricultural productivity, apiculture, and environmental health. The
present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence rate of
microsporidian infection in hymenopteran insects. Also morphological
characterization of the microsporidia was done by light and scanning electron
microscopy. The scanning electron microscopy revealed heavy infection of
microsporidia with different development stages in gut tissue of insects. The
spores were oval in shape whereas meronts were spherical in shape. In addition
to this, the spore provided with rough surface with an average length ranging
from 2 µm - 6 µm long and width ranging from
2 µm - 4 µm. In this investigation, a total of 500 insects from four families of
order hymenoptera viz. Apidae, Vespidae, Scoliidae, Formicidae were
collected and screened for the presence of microsporidian infection, out of
which 187 insects were found positive with the infection. Hence, the overall
prevalence of microsporidian parasites was 37.4%, indicating that
microsporidian infections are common among insect populations.
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Pages:9-11
How to cite this article:
Mukta Mayee Kumbhar, Suman Mishra "Scanning electron microscopy based morphological characterization and prevalence of microsporidia in hymenopteran insects". International Journal of Biology Research, Vol 11, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 9-11
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