Infectious intimacy and contaminated caves—three new species of ectoparasitic fungi (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) from blaniulid millipedes (Diplopoda: Julida) and inferences about their transmittal mechanisms

Abstract

Laboulbeniales is an order of more than 2000 species of small ascomycete fungi which are ectoparasites of insects, millipedes and mites. They are often highly hostspecific and often are also highly specific with regard to which body parts they infect. Laboulbeniales from millipedes are particularly poorly known-only 12 species have been described until now, mostly from Europe. Here, we describe the first laboulbeniaceous parasites from blaniulid millipedes: Troglomyces bilabiatus from Acipes spp., Troglomyces pusillus from Iberoiulus cavernicola Ceuca, 1967 and Troglomyces triandrus from Archiboreoiulus palidus (BradeBirks, 1920). The generic description of Troglomyces is emended. Different types of site specificity of the three new parasites, as well as of previously described species, are explained in terms of aspects of host biology: mating behaviour and habitat. Species from epigean hosts tend to show a high degree of site specificity suggesting transfer during host copulation, whereas most species from cave hosts show no pronounced site specificity and are probably transferred via the substrate. Possible roles of host defensive secretions and parthenogenesis in relation to infection with Laboulbeniales are briefly discussed.

Highly disjunct and highly infected millipedes – a new cave-dwelling species of Chiraziulus (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Cambalidae) from Iran and notes on Laboulbeniales ectoparasites

“…This is significantly higher than the 64% infection rate recorded for populations in caves of the callipodidan Lusitanipus alternans (Verhoeff, 1893) Ceuca, 1967(Enghoff & Santamaria 2015Reboleira & Enghoff 2015). The four specimens from 19 km W of Shiraz were also all infected.…”

“…Studies of the obligate ectoparasitic fungi of the order Laboulbeniales associated with millipedes are scarce (e.g., De Kesel et al 2013;Santamaria et al 2014;Enghoff & Santamaria 2015; Reboleira & (Mauriès, 1983), paratypes infected with ectoparasitic fungi of the genus Rickia Cavara, order Laboulbeniales. A.…”

“…Some Laboulbeniales have a preference for growing on specific parts of the millipede body, and the transmission mechanisms play an important role for the position of the fungus on the host (Enghoff & Santamaria 2015;Reboleira & Enghoff 2015). In the case of Rickia sp.…”

New species of Troglomyces and Diplopodomyces (Laboulbeniales, Ascomycota) from millipedes (Diplopoda)

“…Perithecial apex bearing four conspicuous lobes. The original description was emended by Enghoff & Santamaría (2015). …”

“…The number of these fungi living on millipedes has been substantially increased during recent years from eight species (Santamaría et al 2014), to 24 (Enghoff & Santamaría 2015;Santamaría et al 2016), and 29 if the new taxa described here are included. In the present paper five new species of the genera Troglomyces S.Colla and Diplopodomyces W.Rossi & Balazuc are described, and new information about these genera which are found only on millipedes is also given.…”