Record of an Ectoparasitic Fungus on Eggs of the Neotropical Termite Nasutitermes corniger (Blattaria, Isoptera, Termitidae)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v70i4.9592Keywords:
ectoparasite, egg parasite, social insect, entopathogenic, NasutitermitinaeAbstract
Insects and fungi are abundant in many environments and often interact. However, little information exists on the fungal infestation of insect eggs. Here, we report an entomogenous fungus similar to Hormiscioideus filamentosus (Blackweel & Kimbrough, 1978) infesting eggs of the termite Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855). The fungus arises from egg chorion and has long and simple filaments. The small haustorial cells infiltrate the egg chorion and the fungal thalli number varies from two to ten. Future studies will elucidate the infestation levels of termite eggs by this entomogenous fungus in the Neotropical region and its effects on termite colonies.
Downloads
References
Blackwell, M. & Kimbrough, J.W. (1978). Hormiscioideus filamentosus Gen. Et Sp. Nov., A Termite-Infesting Fungus from Brazil. Mycologia, 70: 1274-1280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.1978.12020351
Blackwell, M. & Rossi, W. (1986). Biogeography of fungal ectoparasites of termites. Mycotaxon, 25: 581-601.
Cole, E.L., Bayne, H. & Rosengaus, R.B. (2020). Young but not defenseless: Antifungal activity during embryonic development of a social insect. Royal Society Open Science, 7: 191418. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191418
Engel, M.S., Grimaldi, D.A. & Krishna, K. (2009). Termites (Isoptera): Their phylogeny, classification, and rise to ecological dominance. American Museum Novitates, 3650: 1-27 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1206/651.1
Goettel, M.S. & Inglis, G.D. (1997). Fungi: Hyphomycetes. In Lacey, L.A. (ed). Field Manual of Techniques in Insect Pathology. Academic Press. Pp 213-249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012432555-5/50013-0
Guswenrivo, I., Tseng, S.P., Scotty Yang, C.C. & Yoshimura, T. (2018). Development of multiplex nested PCR for simultaneous detection of ectoparasitic fungi Laboulbeniopsis termitarius and Antennopsis gallica on Reticulitermes speratus (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Economic Entomology, 111: 1330-1336. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toy091
Komagata, Y., Fukasawa, Y. & Matsuura, K. (2022). Low temperature enhances the ability of the termite-egg-mimicking fungus Athelia termitophila to compete against wood-decaying fungi. Fungal Ecology, 60: 101178 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2022.101178
Lee, K.E. & Wood, T.G. (1971). Termites and soils. Academic Press, New York.
Lenz, M. & Kimbrough, J.W. (1982) Effect of species of termitaria (Termitariales, Deuteromycetes) on Australian termites (Isoptera). Botanical Gazette, 143: 546-550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/337335
Matsuura, K. & Yashiro, T. (2010). Parallel evolution of termite-egg mimicry by sclerotium-forming fungi in distant termite groups. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 100: 531-537. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01444.x
Myles, T.G., Strack, B.H. & Forschler, B. (1998) Distribution and abundance of Antennopsis gallica (Hyphomycetes: Gleohaustoriales), an ectoparasitic fungus, on the eastern subterranean termite in Canada. Journal Invertebrate Pathology, 72: 132-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jipa.1998.4770
Schmidt-Hempel, P. (1998). Parasites in Social Insects. Princeton, NJ, 392 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691206851
Thorne, B.L. & Kimbrough, J.W. (1982). The impact of Mattirolella crustose (Termitariales, Deuteromycetes) on species of Nasutitermes (Isoptera: Termitidae) in Panama. Mycologia, 1: 242-249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.1982.12021496
Wilding, N., Collins, N.M., Hammond, P.M. & Webber, J.F. (1989). Insect-fungus interactions. 14th Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society of London in collaboration with the British Mycological Society. Academic Press, New York, 344p.
Wilson, M., Barden, P. & Ware, J. (2021). A Review of ectoparasitic fungi associated with termites. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 114: 373-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saab001
Ye, C., Li, J., Ran, Y., Rasheed, H., Xing, L. & Su, X. (2019). The nest fungus of the lower termite Reticulitermes labralis. Scientific Reports, 9:1-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40229-x
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Ana Maria Costa-Leonardo, Vanelize Janei
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
eISSN 2447-8067
