Table 15.1Some common fungi that parasitize insects and other arthropods.
Parasitic fungus Hosts
Metarhizium anisopliae Many: Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera
Beauveria bassiana Most/all
Hirsutella thompsonii Arachnida (mites)
Cordyceps militaris Many larvae and pupae of Lepidoptera, some Coleoptera and Hymenoptera
Nomuraea rileyi Larvae and pupae of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera
Paecilomyces farinosus Many (Lepidoptera, Diptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Arachnida)
Lecanicillium lecanii Several, especially scale insects, thrips, and aphids
Entomophthora, Erynia and Various, often host-specific, e.g. Entomophthora muscaeon flies, Erynia
similar zygomycota neoaphidison aphids
Coelomomycesspp. Mosquitoes and midges; often host-specific
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths); Diptera (flies); Homoptera (bugs); Coleoptera (beetles); Hymenoptera (wasps and bees); Orthoptera
(grasshoppers and locusts); Hemiptera (sucking bugs); Arachnida (spiders and mites).
Fig. 15.1Spore-bearing structures of some
common insect-pathogenic fungi. (a) Beauveria
bassiana, which produces cream-white conidia
alternately on an extending tip of a conidiophore.
(b) Metarhizium anisopliae, which produces green
conidia in chains from phialides. (c) Lecanicillium
lecanii, which produces clusters of conidia in
moisture drops at the tips of phialides. (d) Ento-
mophthora spp. (Zygomycota), which produce
single terminal sporangia that are released at
maturity and function as spores.