Hesperomyces (Fungi, Ascomycota) associated with Hyperaspis ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae): Rethinking host specificity.

ABSTRACT: Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniomycetes) are biotrophic microfungi always attached to the exoskeleton of their arthropod hosts. They do not form hyphae or a mycelium; instead, they undergo determinate growth, developing from a two-celled ascospore to form a multicellular thallus. Hesperomyces virescens has been reported on over 30 species of ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae); in reality, it represents a complex of species, presumably segregated by host genus association. In this study, we report on Hesperomyces thalli on Hyperaspis vinciguerrae from the Canary Islands and compare them with the Hesperomyces hyperaspidis described on Hyperaspis sp. from Trinidad. We generated the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, the larg

SUBMITTER: Van Caenegem W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10512334 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature