A case of silent invasion : citizen science confirms the presence of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) in Central America

Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) is a globally invasive ladybird. It has been intentionally introduced in many countries as a biological control agent, whereas it has been unintentionally released in many others. Climatic factors are important in limiting the spread of H. axyridis. For example, very few records are known from tropical or desert regions. Currently, no published reports are known from Central America. Here, we report H. axyridis from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Puerto Rico. Specimens were either observed by the authors, discovered in dried insect collections, or retrieved from searching through online photographs available from the citizen science project iNaturalist and the photo-sharing website Flickr. These new records and the wide distribution of H. axyridis in Latin America suggest several invasion events, which have gone unnoticed until now. We stress the need for further, large-scale monitoring and show the advantage of citizen science to assess the presence of invasive alien species

Annabella australiensis gen. & sp. nov. (Helotiales, Cordieritidaceae) from South Australian mangroves

A new genus of helotialean fungi, Annabella gen. nov. (Cordieritidaceae), is described to accommodate Annabella australiensis sp. nov. This species was collected on attached decaying wood of Avicennia marina, a common mangrove species found in protected waters of southern Australia. Annabella is distinctive among Cordieritidaceae in having relatively small perithecioid hyaline to yellowish apothecia and by the absence of an ionomidotic reaction. The apothecial shape and size of Annabella is most similar to Skyttea. The molecular phylogenetic analysis of a concatenated dataset of three ribosomal nuclear loci confirms the placement of Annabella within Cordieritidaceae, as a sister clade to Skyttea

Red yeasts from leaf surfaces and other habitats : three new species and a new combination of Symmetrospora (Pucciniomycotina, Cystobasidiomycetes)

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Draft genome sequence of the globally distributed cockroach-infecting fungus herpomyces periplanetae strain D. Haelew. 1187d

Herpomyces periplanetae is an obligate biotroph of Periplaneta americana, the American cockroach. Its nearly cosmopolitan distribution is shaped by its globally invasive host and the international pet trade. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of H. periplanetae, based on a thallus from P. americana collected in Cambridge, Massachusetts

A new species of Cantharomyces (Laboulbeniales, Ascomycota) from the Netherlands

This paper describes and illustrates Cantharomyces elongatus sp. nov., a parasitic fungus from Syntomium aeneum (Staphylinidae, Oxytelinae, Euphaniini). Syntomium is a new host genus for Cantharomyces. Comments on its position among related taxa are given

Checklist of thallus-forming Laboulbeniomycetes from Belgium and the Netherlands, including Hesperomyces halyziae and Laboulbenia quarantenae spp. nov.

In this paper we present an updated checklist of thallus-forming Laboulbeniomycetes (Ascomycota, Pezizomycotina), that is, the orders Herpomycetales and Laboulbeniales, from Belgium and the Netherlands. Two species are newly described based on morphology, molecular data (ITS, LSU ribosomal DNA) and ecology (host association). These are Hesperomyces halyziae on Halyzia sedecimguttata (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) from both countries and Laboulbenia quarantenae on Bembidion biguttatum (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Belgium. In addition, nine new country records are presented. For Belgium: Laboulbenia aubryi on Amara aranea (Coleoptera, Carabidae) and Rhachomyces spinosus on Syntomus foveatus (Coleoptera, Carabidae). For the Netherlands: Chitonomyces melanurus on Laccophilus minutus (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae), Euphoriomyces agathidii on Agathidium laevigatum (Coleoptera, Leiodidae), Laboulbenia fasciculata on Omophron limbatum (Coleoptera, Carabidae), Laboulbenia metableti on Syntomus foveatus and S. truncatellus (Coleoptera, Carabidae), Laboulbenia pseudomasei on Pterostichus melanarius (Coleoptera, Carabidae), Rhachomyces canariensis on Trechus obtusus (Coleoptera, Carabidae), and Stigmatomyces hydrelliae on Hydrellia albilabris (Diptera, Ephydridae). Finally, an identification key to 140 species of thallus-forming Laboulbeniomycetes in Belgium and the Netherlands is provided. Based on the combined data, we are able to identify mutual gaps that need to be filled as well as weigh the impact of chosen strategies (fieldwork, museum collections) and techniques in these neighboring countries. The aim of this work is to serve as a reference for studying Laboulbeniomycetes fungi in Europe

Amanita mansehraensis, a new species in section Vaginatae from Pakistan

A new species of Amanita subgenus Amanita sect. Vaginatae is described and illustrated based on material collected in pine forests in district Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, Pakistan. Amanita mansehraensis is recognized by the presence of a light brown or light greyish olive pileus with strong brown or deep brown pileus center; non-appendiculate, rimose, sulcate or plicate striate pileus margin; subglobose to ellipsoid basidiospores; and a saccate volva. The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nrLSU) were used for the delimitation of this species based on sequence data. The evolutionary relationships of A. mansehraensis with other species of Amanita were inferred by means of Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inferences of the nrLSU dataset and concatenated ITS+nrLSU dataset. Amanita mansehraensis is most closely related to A. brunneofuliginea, A. pseudovaginata, and the recently described A. glarea

A parasitic coevolution since the Miocene revealed by phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography and the study of natural history collections.

The discovery of a new fossil species of the Caribbeo-Mexican genus Proptomaphaginus (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Dominican amber, associated with a new fossil parasitic fungus in the genus Columnomyces (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales), triggered an investigation of extant species of Proptomaphaginus and revealed the long-enduring parasitic association between these two genera. This effort resulted in the description of the fossil species †Proptomaphaginus alleni sp. nov., and one fossil and two extant species of Columnomyces, selectively associated with species of Proptomaphaginus: †Columnomyces electri sp. nov. associated with the fossil †Proptomaphaginus alleni in Dominican amber, Columnomyces hispaniolensis sp. nov. with the extant Proptomaphaginus hispaniolensis (endemic of Hispaniola), and Columnomyces peckii sp. nov. with the extant Proptomaphaginus puertoricensis (endemic of Puerto Rico). Based on biogeography, our current understanding is that the Caribbean species of Proptomaphaginus and their parasitic species of Columnomyces have coevolved since the Miocene. This is the first occurrence of such a coevolution between a genus of parasitic fungus and a genus of Coleoptera. The phylogenetic relations among Proptomaphaginus species are also addressed based on a parsimony analysis. Fossil specimens were observed by propagation phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography (PPC-SRμCT) and extant specimens were obtained through the study of preserved dried, pinned insects, attesting for the importance of (i) technological advancement and (ii) natural history collections in the study of microparasitic relationships

Fungal ectoparasites increase winter mortality of ladybird hosts despite limited effects on their immune system

Winter represents a challenging period for insects inhabiting temperate regions. A plethora of studies have investigated how environmental conditions such as temperature affect insect overwintering success. However, only a few studies have focused on biotic factors and the mechanisms affecting the overwintering performance of insects. Here, we investigated the effects of the parasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens on the overwintering performance and immune system functioning of the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis. Winter survival was significantly lower for infected than for uninfected ladybirds. Body mass loss during overwintering tends to be higher for infected individuals compared to uninfected ones and for larger ladybirds. In addition, parasitic infection reduced post-winter longevity without food in male but not female ladybirds. Total haemocyte and protein concentration as well as antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli significantly decreased during ladybird overwintering. However, haemolymph parameters were only poorly affected by Hesperomyces infection, with the exception of antimicrobial activity against E. coli that tended to be higher in infected ladybirds. Interestingly, none of the pre-winter haemolymph parameters were good predictors of ladybird winter survival. Overall, our results indicate that energy exhaustion unrelated to immune system challenge is the most probable explanation for increased overwintering mortality in infected ladybirds.Fil: Knapp, Michal. Czech University Of Life Sciences Prague; República ChecaFil: Řeřicha, Michal. Czech University Of Life Sciences Prague; República ChecaFil: Haelewaters, Danny. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: González, Ezequiel. Czech University Of Life Sciences Prague; República Checa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin