Hesperomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Laboulbeniaceae. The genus contains at least twelve species,[1] including the type species, the Green Beetle Hanger (Hesperomyces virescens).[2] H. virescens is a complex of species.[3] It is an ectoparasite of an invasive species to Europe and the Americas,[4] the harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).[5] Laboratory bioassays pointed out that Hesperomyces-infected ladybirds suffered increased mortality rates.[6]

Hesperomyces
Laboulbeniales on a ladybird, Hesperomyces harmoniae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Laboulbeniomycetes
Order: Laboulbeniales
Family: Laboulbeniaceae
Genus: Hesperomyces
Thaxt. (1891)
Type species
Hesperomyces virescens
Thaxt. (1891)
Species

See text

The fungus completes its entire life cycle on the tough outer layer or integument of a living host where individual fruiting bodies or thalli are formed directly from ascospores. The thalli can form on any part of the insect, but spore germination likely only occurs once the host cuticle has hardened. The spores are believed to have a short life span. Due to the spores' sticky nature, they are not transmitted by contact with substrate or the air. Instead they are spread directly by host activities and it is suggested that transmission occurs during feeding and mating season when sexual contact occurs, therefore making H. virescens a sexually transmitted disease of insects.[7]

Species edit

References edit

  1. ^ Das, Kanad; Rossi, Walter; Leonardi, Marco; Ghosh, Aniket; Bera, Ishika; Hembrom, Manoj E; Bajpai, Rajesh; Joseph, Siljo; Nayaka, Sanjeeva; Upreti, Dalip Kumar; Wang, Xiang-hua (2018). "Fungal Biodiversity Profiles 61 - 70". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 39 (4): 381–418. doi:10.7872/crym/v39.iss4.2018.381. ISSN 0181-1584. S2CID 198148553.
  2. ^ "Ladybug Fungi :Cornell Mushroom Blog". Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  3. ^ Haelewaters, Danny; De Kesel, André; Pfister, Donald H. (2018). "Integrative taxonomy reveals hidden species within a common fungal parasite of ladybirds". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 15966. Bibcode:2018NatSR...815966H. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-34319-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6206035. PMID 30374135.
  4. ^ Werenkraut, Victoria; Baudino, Florencia; Roy, Helen E. (July 7, 2020). "Citizen science reveals the distribution of the invasive harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis Pallas) in Argentina". Biological Invasions. 22 (10): 2915–2921. Bibcode:2020BiInv..22.2915W. doi:10.1007/s10530-020-02312-7. S2CID 220391925. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ Roy, Helen E.; Brown, Peter M. J.; Adriaens, Tim; Berkvens, Nick; Borges, Isabel; Clusella-Trullas, Susana; Comont, Richard F.; De Clercq, Patrick; Eschen, Rene; Estoup, Arnaud; Evans, Edward W. (2016). "The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis: global perspectives on invasion history and ecology". Biological Invasions. 18 (4): 997–1044. Bibcode:2016BiInv..18..997R. doi:10.1007/s10530-016-1077-6. hdl:1893/23086. ISSN 1387-3547. S2CID 17586750.
  6. ^ Haelewaters, Danny; Hiller, Thomas; Kemp, Emily A.; van Wielink, Paul S.; Shapiro-Ilan, David I.; Aime, M. Catherine; Nedvěd, Oldřich; Pfister, Donald H.; Cottrell, Ted E. (2020). "Mortality of native and invasive ladybirds co-infected by ectoparasitic and entomopathogenic fungi". PeerJ. 8: e10110. doi:10.7717/peerj.10110. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7648450. PMID 33194385.
  7. ^ Haelewaters, Danny; Minnaar, Ingrid A.; Clusella-Trullas, Susana (2016). "First finding of the parasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens (Laboulbeniales) on native and invasive ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) in South Africa". Parasite. 23: 5. doi:10.1051/parasite/2016005. ISSN 1252-607X. PMC 4748155. PMID 26861616.   Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  8. ^ Haelewaters D, De Kesel A (2020). "Checklist of thallus-forming Laboulbeniomycetes from Belgium and the Netherlands, including Hesperomyces halyziae and Laboulbenia quarantenae spp. nov". MycoKeys. 71: 23–86. doi:10.3897/mycokeys.71.53421.