A new tritrophic association: Syspastospora parasitica on Beauveria pseudobassiana infecting Corythucha arcuata

Abstract

While studying a sap-feeding insect oak lace bug (Corythucha arcuata Say 1832, Heteroptera: Tingidae) and its association with entomopathogenic fungi, a new tritrophic association was discovered: C. arcuata infected with entomopathogen Beauveria pseudobassiana Rehner & Humber, which in turn is hyperparasitised by mycoparasitic fungus Syspastospora parasitica (Tulasne) Cannon & Hawksworth. This hyperparasitic fungus has been reported on various entomopathogenic fungi including B. pseudobassiana, but never in tritrophic association with C. arcuata. Although fungal hyperparasitism is widespread in nature, it is still poorly studied. In a context of biological control, the interest for hyperparasitic fungi is growing, since entomopathogens have an important role in the regulation of many insect pest populations.