How is our nascent Hawksmoor Processionary Baguette getting along?
This picture was taken yesterday by a local in the area that likes to keep an eye on these things. Now it is clear from the image that there is a problem with the larvae. It appears as though there has been some kind of damage or alteration, and on further inspection it is clear that the larvae is suffering from the Manilla Incumbent virus.
Close observation will reveal the tell-tale striations of this pathogenic invader evident on the surface of the pupal casing.
This is an interesting development.
The Manilla Incumbent can, depending at which point the host is infected, change the gender of the invaded insect and even completely change the characteristics of the emerged adult so that it appears to be a different subspecies.
The subspecies transformation is much more than that as the adult can no longer interbreed with others of apparently the same original species. The adult is not sterile, and appears to have all of the equipment required for reproduction. The structure of the chromosomes are also altered.
Perhaps it is due to the rarity of this type of infection, and the low number of host pupa that subsequently reach maturity, that means the chance of two compatible mutants meeting and successfully reproducing is so low. Or perhaps we are just assuming it hasn't happened and the outcome is not recognisable as either the originating moth or the moth produced as an outcome of the parasitic infection, and so therefore it has passed us by unnoticed.
Maybe as the Hawksmoor re-establishes itself we will find more evidence.
Previously discussed in A Country Diary: Baguette Larvae.
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