Aegeritella superficialis Bal. et Wis. and A. tuberculata Bal. et Wis. (Deuteromycetes), epizoic fungi on two Formica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species in the Iberian Peninsula

Butll. Inst . Cat. Hist. Nat., 54 (Sec. Bot., 6): 31-35. 1987 AEGERITELLA SUPERFICIALIS BAt. ET WIS . AND A . TUBERCULATA BAL. ET WIS. (DEUTEROMYCETES ), EPIZOIC FUNGI ON TWO FORMICA (HYMENOPTERA : FORMICIDAE ) SPECIES IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA Xavier Espadaler i Jerzy Wisniewski ** Rebut: juliol 1986 RESUM Aegeritella superficialis Bat. et Wig .i A. tuberculata Bat. et Wis . (Deuteromycetes ), fongs epizoics de dues especies de Formica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la peninsula Iberica. Aegeritella superficialis Bat. et Wig. i A. tuberculata Bat. et Wis., fongs epizoics, s'han trobat en dues especies de formigues, Formica decipiens Bondr. i F. pressilabris Nyl., respectivament. Ambdues formigues son hostes nous per als fongs, i aquests representen dues noves addicions a la micoflora iberica. Els bulbil•les abunden mes cap a la part distal del cos de les formigues (gaster, tercer parell de potes), el que suggereix un paper actiu, per autocondicia i aliocondicia, de les formigues en la distribucio del fong en el seu cos. SUMMARY Aegeritella superficialis Bat. et Wis. and A. tuberculata Bat•. et Wis., epizoic fungi on Formica decipiens Bondr . and F. pressilabris Nyl., are new records for the Iberian Peninsula; both ant species are new hosts for the fungi. Bulbils are more abundant at the rear of the body suggesting that ants partially control the spread of the fungus over its body by auto and allogrooming. The genus Aegeritella and the species A. sitperficialis were erected by Batazy and Wisniewski (1974) to describe an epizoic fungus found on several species of Formica ants in Poland; a second species, A. letikoi, was described from a Brazilian Canipoiiotus sericeiventris (Guerin) (BAtAZY & W1SNIEWSKt, 1977), a third one, A. tuberculata, from Lasius flavus (Fab.) and Formica fusca L. also from Poland, and very recently (BA.LAZY et al., 1986), a fourth one, A. roussillonensis on Cataglyphis cursor (Fonscolombe) in Southern France. * Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegctal i Ecologia. Laboratori de Zoologia. Facultat de Cicncics. Universitat Autonoma. 08193 Bellaterra. Barcelona. Spain. ** Forest and Environment Protection. Academy of Agriculture. U1. Wojska Polskicgo 71 C. 60-625 Poznan. Poland. 31 1. Present kno%vleclgc of .1cgc'rilclla species %vith its hosts and eounti\ vvhrrc found. (Reference in brackets.) I.slat actual del cuncixetncnt dc Ics espccics d'Argcrilrllu, amb cis hostcs i pals. iRClcrrnMt cnuc parcnlesi.) A. sllperflclalls A. lenk ol A. Iubercldala A. rolssll1011ensls Formica rufa L. Poland (2, 9, 12) Switzerland (6) F. polyctena Forst. Poland (2, 9, 12) Switzerland (6) Federal Rep. Germany (11) F. pratensis Retz. Poland (2, 9, 12) F. truncorum Fabr. Poland (2, 9, 12) F. lugubris Zett. Italy (10) Switzerland (6) F. sanguinea Latr. Switzerland (6) Poland (12) F. fusca L. Poland (2) Poland (4) F. decipiens Bondr. Spain F. pressilabris Nyl. Spain Lasius flavus (Fab.) Poland (4) C'alnponotus sericeiventris (Guerin) Brazil (3) Calaglyphis cursor (Fonscolombe) France (1) Here we report the presence of A. superficialis and A. tuberculate on two species of Formica; the present knowledge of geographical and host distribution is summarized in table 1. Until now only members ofd the subfamily Formicinae are known as hosts to Aegeritella species. The new Iberian localities are the following: Aegeritella superficialis Bat. et Wis. 1974. On Formica decipiens Bondr. La Castanya, Montseny (Barcelona), 5-VII-79. Nest under stone near a field path at 850 m; UTM 31TDG4626. Two infected workers. Aegeritella lubcrculala Bat. et Wis. 1982. On Formica pressilabris Nvl. Aiguanu)ix (Llcida), 8-VI-1975. Dome nest of grass litter in a meadow at 1.850 m, outside a wood of Pinus nlugo. UTM 31TCH3025. 34 infected workers (figs. 1, 2). Both ant species are new hosts to their respective fungi. Fin. 1. SEM photography of bulbils (4) of Aegeritella luberculata Bat. el Wis. on Formica pre ssilabris Nyl. from Aiguamoix (Llcida, Spain). BulbitIcs (4) d'Acgcritella tuberculula Bat. et Wis. damunt Formica pressilabris Nyl. d'Aiguantoix (Llcida, Fspanya). FIG. 2. SEM photography of a bulbil of Aegeritella luberculata Bat. et Wi4. on Formica pressilabris Nyl. Bulbillcs d'Aegerilella luberculata Bad'. ct Wis. damunt Furrnica pressilabris NO. 32 33 There is scarce knowledge of the biology of Aegeritella species; spatial distribution of infected ant nests seems to be unrelated to phytosociological communities and uniform (W1SNirvvsKI, 1976); the percentage of infected ant nests varies from 35,7 0 (W1< 1rwsKI, 1976) to 0,3 0 (C1{ERIx, 1982), varying according to Formica species and sites. We studied 141 Formica samples from the Pyrenees and only 1 (0,71)o) was found to be infected; 34 out of 64 workers in the sample (53 %) of F. pressilabris were infected; this agrees with data from W1sNurwSK1 & SoKO- .#-o\V'SKY (1983) for A. stiperficialis that are within the range of 1,5 to 66,6 °o on infected workers in different nests of 4 Formica species. The number of bulbils may be as high as one hundred per worker (CiiiRIX-, 1982); from the detailed study of the number and situation of bulbils in one case (table II, fig. 3) it can be seen that the gaster and legs are more heavily attacked; this agrees with previous reports of the head being the less affected portion (WISNIEvwSKI, 1977; Bvi zv & WlsNnAVsKi, 1982) while the thorax is intermediate. We can find no apparent reason for this distal trend unless we assume that because of auto and allogrooming of the head -eyes, mouthparts, antennae are of vital importancethere is a lower level of infection, since it is to be expected that small, growing thalli are easier to eliminate than full grown ones. Ants would play an active, but partial, role in controTABLE II. Number and situation of Aegeritella tuberculata Bat. et Wig. bulbils among workers (n=34) of Formica pressilabris Nyl. from Aiguamoix (Llcida, Spain). Numbrc i localitraci,i delhulbi4les d'Acl;eritell(1 tuber- ,uluua Bat. et Wj.i. al, individus (n=34) de Formica pres- ,ilahri, Nsl. d'Airuamois Il.lcida, Espanva). Mean number (range) Head 0,5 (0-5) Thorax 0,8 (0-4) Caster 2,6 (0-13) 1st leg 0,5 (0-3) 2nd leg 0,6 (0-3) 3rd leg 1,5 (0-6) Total 6,6 (1-24) BuIbiIs mainly on back of head upper surface whole gaster femur femur, tibia fenu r, tibia L90 Leo L70 X60 L50 .40 L30 -20 L10 2 4 6 Fu:. 3. Cumulative number of bulbils of Aegeritella tuber-culata Bat. ct Wis., found on head (1), thorax (2), gaster (3), first (4), second (5) and third (6) legs in the 34 workers of Formica pressilabris NNI. Nombre acumulat de bulbittrs d'Aeperitella super!icialis Bat. el Wis. al cap (1), bias (2), glister (3), primer (4), segos (5) i tcrcer (6) parell de pules ats 34 individus de Formica pressilabris NO. fling the spread of the fungus over its bodies. Since the contact of the fungus with the insect cuticle is superficial, its parasitic nature remains unclear (BA-AZY & WlsNiLwvsK1, 1982); whichever way this last point is resolved, Acgcritella species seem to have successfully broken the chemical defence provided by the many glands present in ants, that have been shown to secrete antibiotic or inhibitory substances against several bacteria, fungi or even pollen (HOLLnoBLE & ENGEL-SI GEL, 1984; BEATTIE, 1985) and thus joining Laboulbeniales as the other major group of externally parasitic fungi on ants (T.- \ARES, 1985). 34 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dr . Stanislaw Balazy ( Forest Research Laboratory , Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan ) for the determination of the fungi , Onofre Castcll for his assistance during the SEM work and E. Descals for his botanical comments and for improving the English text. This work has been partially supported by a grant from CAICYT ( 1366/82). REFERENCES I. B,siszv, S., Li:Nwe, A. & WISNn:wSKI, J. 1986. 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