Yesterday in my bedroom I found a Harlequin Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, so I took a few record photos and noticed tufts of yellow Laboulbenia-type fungus growing on it. Dredging my memory, I recalled something about a fungus on Harlequin Ladybirds so I took a closer look. Our County Recorder kindly informed me that the fungi on Coccinellidae are Hesperomyces harmoniae, which is actually a species complex, each clade seemingly host-species specific. The fungus on Harmonia axyridis is Hesperomyces harmoniae (Haelewaters, D. (2019). Hesperomyces “harmoniae” nom. prov.(Laboulbeniales), an ectoparasitic fungus specific to Harmonia axyridis. IOBC-WPRS Bull, 145, 53-55)
I took a few of the yellow thalli examined them under the microscope:
Laboulbeniales form individual thalli but lack vegetative hyphae. The haustorium penetrates the tissues of the host so that they can reach to the body cavity and draw nutrients from the haemolymph. Hesperomyces fungi are only transferred when ladybirds are in close contact with each other, during overwintering or mating. Infected Ladybirds do not die but may have a shorter lifespan or a reduced ability to produce as many eggs as normal.
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