Abstract
Nine genera of minute nonmycelial fungi characterized by a thallus of one to 15 cells in linear arrangement, a usually darkened holdfast, and often endospores cut off in succession are known from arthropod hosts. The taxonomic relationship of these minute fungi, including
Thaxteriola, has been the subject of speculation, and morphological comparisons have been made to the Laboulbeniales. One genus has been synonymized with
Pyxidiophora in the Hypocreales. The discovery of a new species of
Pyxidiophora with a
Thaxteriola anamorph on mites associated with the southern pine beetle gives new evidence of relationships and points out the importance of a mycological curiosity as a dispersal stage. This anamorph is nonmycelial, highly specialized, and unlike any known for an ascomycete.
Keywords
Pyxidiophora,
Thaxteriola,
Dendroctonus,
entomogenous fungi,
mites,
taxonomy
Citation
Blackwell, Meredith; Perry, Thelma J.; Bridges, Robert J.; Moser, John C. 1986. A new species of pyxidiophora and its Thaxteriola anamorph. Mycologia, Vol. 78(4): 605-612