The facultative intracellular symbiont Lariskella is neutral for lifetime fitness and spreads through cytoplasmic incompatibility in the leaffooted bug, Leptoglossus zonatus

To examine the effects of the intracellular symbiont Lariskella on bug performance and reproduction as well as in possible interactions with the bug’s obligate nutritional symbiont, Caballeronia, Leptoglossus zonatus individuals were reared in a factorial experiment with both Lariskella and Caballeronia positive and negative treatments. Bug performance was measured based on lifetime survival analysis, development time, and weight. Lifetime reproductive success was measured based on clutch size and egg hatch rate of adult female L. zonatus with and without Lariskella. In a second experiment, we evaluated egg mortality in reproductive crosses with and without Lariskella (in all four possible combinations) to evaluate the possibility that Lariskella caused cytoplasmic incompatibility. Finally, we sampled bugs from three L. zonatus populations in USA on pomegranates: two populations in California (Bakersfield and Fresno) and one from Tucson, Arizona to determine Lariskella infection frequency in the field.