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Background  Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been documented in many herbivorous insects, conferring the ability to digest plant material and promoting their remarkable ecological diversification. Previous reports suggest HGT of antibacterial enzymes may have contributed to the insect immune response and limit bacterial growth. Carnivorous insects also display many evolutionary successful lineages, but in contrast to the plant feeders, the potential role of HGTs has been less well-studied.    Results  Using genomic and transcriptomic data from 38 species of ladybird beetles, we identified a set of bacterial  cell wall hydrolase  ( cwh ) genes acquired by this group of beetles. Infection with  Bacillus subtilis  led to upregulated expression of these ladybird  cwh  genes, and their recombinantly produced proteins limited bacterial proliferation. Moreover, RNAi-mediated  cwh  knockdown led to downregulation of other antibacterial genes, indicating a role in antibacterial immune defense.  cwh  genes are rare in eukaryotes, but have been maintained in all tested Coccinellinae species, suggesting that this putative immune-related HGT event played a role in the evolution of this speciose subfamily of predominant predatory ladybirds.    Conclusion  Our work demonstrates that, in a manner analogous to HGT-facilitated plant feeding, enhanced immunity through HGT might have played a key role in the prey adaptation and niche expansion that promoted the diversification of carnivorous beetle lineages. We believe that this represents the first example of immune-related HGT in carnivorous insects with an association with a subsequent successful species radiation.    Supplementary Information  The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-020-00945-7.

Horizontally acquired antibacterial genes associated with adaptive radiation of ladybird beetles