Gut bacteria are beneficial to the host, many of which must be passed on to host offspring. During metamorphosis, the midgut of holometabolous insects undergoes histolysis and remodeling, and thus risks losing gut bacteria. Strategies employed by holometabolous insects to minimize this risk are obscure. How gut bacteria affect host insects after entering the hemocoel and causing opportunistic infections remains largely elusive. We used holometabolous Helicoverpa armigera as a model and found low Lactobacillus load, high level of a C-type lectin...
