Ascosphaera callicarpa, a new species of bee-loving fungus, with a key to the genus for Europe

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 9; p. e73419
• Main Authors: Wynns, Anja A, Jensen, Annette B, Eilenberg, Jørgen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 25-09-2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Apis mellifera; Ascomycota; Ascomycota - classification; Ascomycota - isolation & purification; Ascosphaera apis; Ascosphaera callicarpa; Ascosphaeraceae; Bees; Bees - microbiology; Biodiversity; Chelostoma florisomne; Cysts; Ecological monitoring; Ecology; Environmental science; Europe; Evolution; Fungi; Honey; Hymenoptera; Identification keys; Megachile rotundata; Megachilidae; Morphology; Nests; New species; Pathology; Plant reproduction; Reeds; Taxonomy; Europe
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073419

We studied the bee specialist fungus Ascosphaera in wild solitary bees to investigate the diversity of the genus in nature and the ecology of these fungi with their bee hosts. A new morphologically distinctive species was discovered which also has a unique nrITS sequence. This new species, here named Ascosphaera callicarpa, is common on the larval feces of the solitary bee Chelostoma florisomne which nests in the Phragmites reeds of thatched roofs in Europe. Because collections of Ascosphaera from wild bees are scarce and because little is known about the ecology and distribution of the majority of the species in the genus, a key to the species thus far reported for Europe is included.