[Effect of parasitic protozoa on the physiological state of the body of the confused flour beetle (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)].

Studies were conducted of diseases of Tribolium destructor and T. confusum caused by parasites of the fat body, microsporidians of Nosema whitei and coccidians of Adelina tribolii. The infection of larvae of tenebrionid beetles with microsporidians and coccidians results in substantial changes in the metabolism of insects-hosts (respiratory metabolism is disturbed and activity of tissue catalase is reduced). Physiological characteristics of uninfected larvae of T. confusum and T. destructor differ considerably. In T. destructor the disease is more acute in its character and is accompanied by more sharp changes in metabolism as compared to T. confusum. On the basis of experiments conducted the author came to the conclusion that parasitic protozoans affect the physiological state of tenebrionid beetles in many ways. On the other hand the tenebrionids themselves are somehow affected by the host that apparently is stipulated by physiological and biochemical peculiarities of the organism of the latter.