Multiple causes of male-killing in a single sample of the two-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata (Coleoptera: coccinellidae) from Moscow.

Thirty-six matrilines from a single Muscovite sample of Adalia bipunctata were assayed, using appropriate primers, for presence of the four male-killing symbionts known to infect this species of ladybird. All four, a Rickettsia, a Spiroplasma and two different strains of Wolbachia, were found to be present. Vertical transmission efficiencies were assessed from F1 and F2 families from each of the matrilines, and were found to differ significantly between symbionts. Potential explanations of the presence of four different male-killing symbionts within a single population, are considered.