Sunbathing insects to prevent disease

A North American aphid species often sunbaths to prevent fungal spores from entering their bodies.

A Boxelder bug. (Photo: Livescience)

Paul Boxelder often concentrates in groups to sunbathe in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Given that this phenomenon is unusual, biologists from Simon Fraser University in Canada decided to investigate. They found that it seems that sunlight activates the synthesis of monoterpene, a compound that has a strong odor and is capable of covering fungal spores on the body of aphids. Thanks to monoterpene, fungal spores cannot penetrate into aphids, Livescience reported.

"Sunbathing helps the Boxelder to prevent pathogens that they cannot avoid in their shelters. Scientists have never witnessed this phenomenon in other insects" , Gerhard Gries, a teacher Simon Fraser University's biological professor, said.

According to Gries, if Boxelder uses solar energy to serve chemical processes in the body without the aid of symbiotic bacteria, this ability is a remarkable feat in the biological world. living.

Simon Fraser University's research is published in a specialized scientific journal Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata.