Amylostereum (genus)

Russulales • Agaricomycetes • Basidiomycota • fungi • plant diseases • pests-diseases-weeds

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Amylostereum laevigatum (click on image to enlarge it)
Author(s): Andreas Kunze
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Amylostereum Boidin (1958)

This is a small genus of wood decaying fungi with around 5 species. Most of them are symbionts of Sirex wood wasps and related insects who carry the fungi in special mycangia and introduce them into new host trees. The fungi transform the wood into a suitable food for the wasp larvae. The Sirex-Amylostereum pest complex can be very destructive to forest trees if the wasps attack live trees. The most important example is the association between Sirex noctilio and Amylostereum areolatum which causes wilting of pine trees, especially in countries invaded by S. noctilio.

Currently, the following species and groups have been entered into the system:

• Amylostereum areolatum
• Amylostereum chailletii