Entomophaga (fungus) explained

Entomophaga is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Entomophthoraceae family and also the order Entomophthorales.[1] This has been supported by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Gryganskyi et al. 2012).[2]

Well-known species are Entomophaga grylli and Entomophaga maimaiga, which can infect grasshoppers and gypsy moths respectively.

The genus name of Entomophaga was derived from combining two words in the Greek, entomon means insect and phaga means to eat. The genus was created in 1964 by the Polish mycologist Andrzej Batko (1933 - 1997). He wrote “... to commemorate the international journal Entomophaga devoted to problems of biological control of insect pests.”[3] The journal later ceased publication in 1998 and was replaced by BioControl.

Species

As accepted by Species Fungorum;[4]

Notes and References

  1. Carolyn . Elya . Henrik H. . De Fine Licht . The genus Entomophthora: bringing the insect destroyers into the twenty-first century & . IMA Fungus . 12 November 2021 . 12 . 34.
  2. Gryganskyi AP, Humber RA, Smith ME et al (2012) Molecular phylogeny of the Entomophthoromycota. Mol Phylogenet Evol 65:682–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.07.026
  3. Batko, A. 1964. Bull. Acad. Pol. Sci., Série des sciences biologiques 12, 323-326
  4. Web site: Entomophaga - Search Page . www.speciesfungorum.org . Species Fungorum . 31 December 2022.