The Laboulbeniomycetes are a unique group of fungi that are obligatorily associated with arthropods, either as external parasites or for dispersal (Pyxidiophorales).
The Laboulbeniales is an order of fungi within the class Laboulbeniomycetes. They are also known by the colloquial name beetle hangers or labouls. The order includes around 2,325 species of obligate insect ectoparasites that produce cellular thalli from two-celled ascospores. Of the described Laboulbeniales, Weir and Hammond 1997 find 80% to be from Coleoptera and the next largest group to be the 10% from Diptera. Recently, the genus Herpomyces, traditionally considered a basal member of Laboulbeniales, was transferred to the order Herpomycetales based on molecular phylogenetic data. Laboulbeniales typically do not kill their hosts, although they may impair host fitness if the parasite density is high.
Laricifomes officinalis, also known as agarikon, eburiko, or the quinine conk, is a wood-decay fungus that causes brown heart rot on conifers native to Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as Morocco. This fungus is the only member of the genus Laricifomes, in the order Polyporales. The fruiting bodies grow in large conks on the trunks of trees.
Apiognomonia errabunda is a fungal plant pathogen and causal agent of oak anthracnose. It is one of the most widespread leaf-associated fungi in the northern temperate zone and is found mostly on oak, beech, and linden trees.
Agaricomycotina is one of three subdivisions of the Basidiomycota, and represents all of the fungi which form macroscopic fruiting bodies. Agaricomycotina contains over 30,000 species, divided into three classes: Tremellomycetes, Dacrymycetes, and Agaricomycetes. Around 98% of the species are in the class Agaricomycetes, including all the agarics, bracket fungi, clavarioid fungi, corticioid fungi, and gasteroid fungi. Tremellomycetes contains many basidiomycete yeasts and some conspicuous jelly fungi. Dacrymycetes contains a further group of jelly fungi. These taxa are founded on molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, and supersede earlier morphology-based classifications. Agaricomycotina contains nearly one third of all described species of fungi.
The Arthoniales is the second largest order of mainly crustose lichens, but fruticose lichens are present as well. The order contains around 1500 species, while the largest order with lichenized fungi, the Lecanorales, contains more than 14000 species.
Sarcodon is a genus of fungi in the family Bankeraceae, which is part of the order Thelephorales, known for its almost universal ectomycorrhizal ecology. The genus owes its name to the presence of teeth-like spines on the hymenophore, from ancient Greek; sarco = flesh and odon = tooth. For this reason they are commonly called "tooth fungi", or "Hydnoid fungi".
Meruliopsis is a genus of poroid crust fungi. The genus was circumscribed by Russian mycologist Appollinaris Semenovich Bondartsev in 1959.
Gloeandromyces is a genus of fungi in the family Laboulbeniaceae. The genus contains five species. All species are associated with Neotropical bat flies.
Hesperomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Laboulbeniaceae. The genus contains at least twelve species, including the type species, the Green Beetle Hanger. H. virescens is a complex of species. It is an ectoparasite of an invasive species to Europe and the Americas, the harlequin ladybird. Laboratory bioassays pointed out that Hesperomyces-infected ladybirds suffered increased mortality rates.
Polyozellus is a fungal genus in the family Thelephoraceae, a grouping of mushrooms known collectively as the leathery earthfans. Previously considered a monotypic genus, it now contains the Polyozellus multiplex species complex. The genus name is derived from the Greek poly meaning many, and oz, meaning branch. It is commonly known as the blue chanterelle, the clustered blue chanterelle, bluefan, or, in Alaska, the black chanterelle. The distinctive fruit body of this species comprises blue- to purple-colored clusters of vase- or spoon-shaped caps with veiny wrinkles on the undersurface that run down the length of the stem.
Hypochnella is a genus of corticioid (crust-like) fungi. It is one of several genera that were doubtfully placed in the order Atheliaceae based on microscopic morphological simultaneous with core Atheliaceae genera. However, a molecular study with emphasis on Atheliales, including samples across most agaricomycete orders, retrivied the species Hypochnella violacea within the order Polyporales. Although a close relationship between Hypochnella violacea and genus Australohydnum was suggested, resolving the phylogenetic position of Hypochnella within Polyporales was outside the scope of the study. The genus contains two described species.
Microglossum viride is a species of fungus in the family Leotiaceae. They are commonly called green earth tongues.
Everett Stanley Luttrell was an American mycologist and plant pathologist at the University of Georgia's Georgia Experiment Station and main campus.He served as the DW Brooks Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia from in 1978 to 1986. Luttrell was particularly known for his work on the classification of perithecial ascomycetes and Helminthosporium.
Herpomyces is a fungal genus in the order Herpomycetales (Laboulbeniomycetes), with species that are exclusively ectoparasites of members of the Blattodea order (cockroaches). As of 2020, 27 species of Herpomyces are formally described. Members of Herpomyces have been reported from all continents except Antarctica.
Epichloë typhina is a haploid sexual species in the fungal genus Epichloë. It was originally described as a Sphaeria species. Today, however, it is classified in Epichloë.
Rhizopogon amylopogon is a sub-genus of Rhizopogon containing seven species.
Laboulbenia slackensis is a microscopic fungus found on Carabidae arthropods. Like all fungi found in the Laboulbeniomycetes class, L. slackensis is an obligate ectoparasite and lives its entire life cycle on one host. It is differentiated from other related species based on host preference, and is studied as an example of speciation due to ecological niche preference.
Hobsonia is a genus of fungi in the family Phleogenaceae. The genus is currently monotypic, with a single recognized species, Hobsonia mirabilis. The type species, H. gigaspora, and H. ackermannii are considered to be synonyms and additional lichenicolous species have now been transferred to the ascomycete genera Hobsoniopsis and Illosporiopsis. Hobsonia mirabilis is only known in its anamorph form, which is whitish, gelatinous, pustular, and occurs on dead woody plant remains. Microscopically, it produces coiled or spiralled conidia. The species was formerly of uncertain disposition, but molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has shown that it belongs within the Atractiellales. Though originally described from New York, the species is more commonly found in the tropics and subtropics.
Boletinellus monticola, previously known as Gyrodon monticola, is a bolete fungus in the Boletinellaceae family with a pored hymenium rather than gills. This species can be identified by its common ectomycorrhizal association and therefore close proximity to Alder trees. B. monticola is most commonly found near the equator, specifically in Southern Mexico and stretching into northern South America.
