Neozygites osornensis (entomopathogen)

Neozygites • Entomophthorales • Zygomycota (entomopathogens) • entomopath. fungi • Diseases of pests • Beneficials

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Neozygites osornensis - a) subspherical hyphal body with visible nuclei (Bar = 10 μm), b) primary conidia germinating apically (Bar = 10 μm), c) capilliconidium developed from primary conidium on capillary tube (Bar = 10 μm), e) fully developed zygospore attached on killed aphid (Bar = 10 μm), f) fungus-killed Cinara cupressi (Bar = 100 μm) (click on image to enlarge it)
Author(s): Surendra K. Dara, Cristian Montalva and Marek Barta
Modified from: Insects (2019), 10 (10) art. 341

Neozygites osornensis (entomopathogen) Montalva & Barta, Mycologia, 2012

This fungus has been initially described from the city of Osorno in Chile (South America), as infecting the invasive cypress aphid, Cinara cupressi (Retamal et al., 2013). It can cause epizootics, and has been also reported as infecting the related cypress pine aphid, Cinara tujafilina. It has not been recorded from other countries.

Infected aphids become swollen and are first reddish-brown when external conidia are formed, later black when internal zygospores develop. The fungus-killed aphids remain attached to the branches, hanging from their probosces. The conidia cause the spread of the disease during epizootics, while the zygospores are resting stages that initiate a new epizootic.

For a review of this fungus see Montalva et al. (2015).