The paradoxical rarity of a fruit fly fungus attacking a broad range of hosts.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the factors that determine the realized and potential distribution of a species requires knowledge of abiotic, physiological, limitations as well as ecological interactions. Fungi of the order Laboulbeniales specialize on arthropods and are typically thought to be highly specialized on a single species or closely related group of species. Because infections are almost exclusively transmitted through direct contact between the hosts, the host ecology, to a large extent, determines the distribution and occurrence of the fungus. We examined ~20,000 fruit flies (Diptera: Dacinae) collected in Malaysia, Sulawesi, Australia, and the Solomon Islands between 2017 and 2019 for fungal infections and found 197 infected flies across eight different Bactrocera species. Morphology a

SUBMITTER: Doorenweerd C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7452774 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature