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Abstract
Biochemical analysis of the haemolymph and body fat of the larvae of the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, revealed specific variations in their metabolism during infection with the nematode-bacterial complex (Steinernema carpocapsae–Xenorhabdus nematophilus) and (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora–Photorhabdus luminescens). The total amino acid composition showed an obvious decrease by 62.58 and 65.67% in the haemolymph of larvae infected by each of these nematode-bacterial complexes, respectively, as compared with the untreated larvae. Some amino acids increased and others showed a decrease after infection, this could reflect the factors responsible for infection and mortality by bacterial symbionts. The total protein in the haemolymph showed a 5.3 fold decrease after treatment with S. carpocapsae–X. nematophilus and 2.5 fold decrease after treatment with H. bacteriophora–P. luminescens as compared with the control. Also, a double fold decrease in the amount of protein in body fat was recorded for both treatments as compared with the control. The drop in the haemolymph total lipids after treatment coincided with an increase in their amount in the body fat. On the other hand, the increase in total lipid content of body fat of treated red palm weevil larvae may be due to conversion of some proteins to fats which is recorded in low protein content in the body fat of the treated larvae. The carbohydrate level in the control larvae was lower in the haemolymph compared with that recorded after treatments, while the body fat of control showed higher content than that after treatments. This may be due to utilization of carbohydrates stored to contribute in protein synthesis.