Entomophthora species with E. muscae‐like primary spores on two new insect orders, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera

Abstract

Adults of Cantharis livida (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) and of Torymus druparum (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) were found naturally infected by fungi from the Entomophthorales in Denmark. The morphology of the primary spores of the two fungi clearly showed that they belong to the genus Entomophthora s.str. No species from this genus has been reported so far from these insect orders. With respect to spore size and number of nuclei per spore, the fungi fall within the range of species from the E. muscae complex, known only from Diptera. A transfer of the fungus from T. druparum to Psila rosae (Diptera: Psilidae) was however possible. The findings thus confirm a significant widening of the host range of species within the E. muscae complex.

The genus Entomophthora: bringing the insect destroyers into the twenty-first century

“…2 Potential coevolution and host ranges of Entomophthora. A Schematic co-cladogram of 21 recognized Entomophthora species and orders within the class Insecta ; Entomophthora species in blue text all infect Diptera , red Hemiptera , green Raphidoptera , pink Thysanoptera , and dark red Plecoptera ; the asterisk (*) highlights the orders Hymenoptera and Coleoptera with known infections of undescribed Entomophthora species (Eilenberg et al 1987 ). B Schematic co-cladogram of fly-infecting Entomophthora species and major families/superfamilies within Diptera ; phylogenetic relationships of Entomophthora species are based on Gryganskyi et al ( 2013a ), insect orders from Misof et al ( 2014 ), and Diptera families/superfamilies from Wiegmann et al ( 2011 ) …”

“…3 ), and it was possible to infect house flies ( Musca domestica ) with an undescribed Entomophthora sp. found on a beetle ( Coleoptera ; Eilenberg et al 1987 ). While Entomophthora spp .…”

“…In addition, it is very likely that there are several Entomophthora species that have yet to be discovered. For example, observations of E. muscae -like fungi have been made in Coleoptera and Hymenoptera , though have yet to be formally described (Eilenberg et al 1987 ). First, due to lack of study and the relative obscurity of these organisms, we have effectively explored only a small fraction of Entomophthora -containing habitats.…”

Differential divergences of obligately insect-pathogenicEntomophthoraspecies from fly and aphid hosts

“…), Hemiptera (aphids, bugs), Hymenoptera (wasps), Neuroptera (lacewings, etc. ), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Thysanoptera (thrips) (Eilenberg et al , 1987; Bałazy, 1993; Keller, 2002). However, each species is thought to have a fairly narrow host range, infecting host species belonging to the same insect order, genus or even a single host species.…”

Southernmost records of Entomophtoromycotina. Updated review of Entomophthoralean fungal insect pathogens of Argentina

“…The previous reports and articles on the subject recorded for Argentina were focused on taxonomy, biodiversity, epizootiology and some laboratory evaluations of biological activity of species Batkoa sp., Conidiobolus coronatus (Costantin) A. Batko Entomophthoralean fungi infecting insects have been studied and reported from all over the world (Eilenberg et al 1987, Keller 1987, Feng et al 1990, Eilenberg et al 1992, Bałazy 1993, Santamaría and Girbal 1996, Hatting et al 1999, Nielsen et al 2001, Pell et al 2001, Steinkraus and Boys 2005, Jensen et al 2009, Hajek et al 2012, Humber 2012, while this fungal group was poorly studied in South America (Aruta et al 1974, 1984, Delalibera et al 1992, Alzugaray et al 1999. The first Argentinean reference was published by Fresa (1979) but in the last decade, the number of publications about this fungal group has increased (Méndez-Sánchez et al 2001, 2002a, b, 2009, Delalibera et al 2004, Toledo et al 2007, 2008a, b, Jensen et al 2009, Alzugaray et al 2010, Scorsetti et al 2010, 2012, Sosa Gómez et al 2010, Manfrino et al 2013, 2014a, b, c, Montalva et al 2016a.…”