Insect-Fungal Associations: Ecology and Evolution

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Fernando E. Vega (Research Entomologist, Research Entomologist, USDA Insect Biocontrol Laboratory) Meredith Blackwell (Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Louisiana State University)

Insect-Fungal Associations

Ecology and Evolution

Fernando E. Vega (Research Entomologist, Research Entomologist, USDA Insect Biocontrol Laboratory), Meredith Blackwell (Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Louisiana State University)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
24 February 2005

Ecological science, the Biosphere; Molecular biology; Mycology, fungi (non-medical); Plant pathology & diseases; Insects (entomology)

"Insects and fungi have a shared history of association in common habitats where together they endure similar environmental conditions, but only recently have mycologists and entomologists recognized and had the techniques to study the intricacies of some of the associations. This new volume covers ""seven wonders of the insect-fungus world"" for which exciting new results have become available, often due to the use of new methods that include phylogenetic analysis and development of molecular markers.

Eleven chapters of the volume are presented in two sections, ""Fungi that act against insects"" and ""Fungi mutualistic with insects"" that cover a number of major themes. Examples of necrotrophic parasites of insects are discussed, not only for biological control potential, but also as organisms with population structure and complex multipartite interactions; a beneficial role for symptomless endophytes in broad-leafed plants is proposed; biotrophic fungal parasites with reduced morphologies are placed among relatives using phylogenetic methods; complex methods of fungal spore dispersal include interactions with one or more arthropods; the farming behavior of New World attine ants is compared with that of humans and the Old World fungus-growing termites; certain mycophagous insects use fungi as a sole nutritional resource; and other insects obtain nutritional supplements from yeasts.

Insects involved in fungal associations include--but are not limited to--members of the Coleoptera, Diptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, and Isoptera. The fungi involved in interactions with insects may be clustered taxonomically, as is the case for Ascomycetes in the Hypocreales (e.g., Beauveria, Metarhizium, Fusarium), ambrosia fungi in the genera ophiostoma and ceratocystis and their asexual relatives, Laboulbeniomycetes, Saccharomycetes, and the more basal Microsporidia. Other groups, however, have only occasional members (e.g., mushrooms cultivated by attine ants and termites) in such associations. The chapters included in this volume constitute a modern crash course in the study of insect-fungus associations."

Edited by: Fernando E. Vega (Research Entomologist Research Entomologist USDA Insect Biocontrol Laboratory), Meredith Blackwell (Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Boyd Professor, Department of Biological Science, Louisiana State University)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 242mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 632g
ISBN: 9780195166521
ISBN 10: 0195166523
Pages: 350
Publication Date: 24 February 2005
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Fernando E. Vega is an insect pathologist at the Insect Biocontrol Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, a U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service facility. He researches developing innovative biological control methods to control the coffee berry borer, the most devastating pest of coffee throughout the world. Meredith Blackwell is a mycologist using cultural, morphological, and molecular characters in her studies of the biology of associations between fungi and insects. She has conducted field studies in the Sonoran Desert, northern Gulf Coast, Canada, and Panama.

Reviews for Insect-Fungal Associations: Ecology and Evolution

"""The book should be very useful to lecturers and educators involved in teaching insect-fungal associations to revise and update teaching course topics and material. All in all, I highly recommend this volume to all interested in insect-fungal associations and interactions.""--ycologist's Bookshelf ""This book should be very useful to lecturers and educators involved in teaching insect-fungal associations to revise and update course topics and material. All in all, I highly recommend this volume to all interested in insect-fungal associations and interactions.""--Inoculum ""Well written, present state-of-the-art information, and make for interesting and informative reading. The overall high quality of the book, its breadth of coverage, and its extremely reasonable price combine to make this a valuable and accessible resource for anyone interested in ecology, evolution, and symbiology.""--Quarterly Review of Biology ""Well written, present state-of-the-art information, and make for interesting and informative reading. The overall high quality of the book, its breadth of coverage, and its extremely reasonable price combine to make this a valuable and accessible resource for anyone interested in ecology, evolution, and symbiology.""--Quarterly Review of Biology"