Myrmicinosporidium durum

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Myrmicinosporidium durum
Myrmicinosporidium durum.jpg
Temnothorax albipennis infected with Myrmicinosporidium durum, Dinant, BE, 14 April 2025 (Gilles San Martin)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Blastocladiomycota
Class: Blastocladiomycetes
Order: Blastocladiales
Genus: Myrmicinosporidium
Species:
M. durum
Binomial name
Myrmicinosporidium durum
Hölldobler, 1933

Myrmicinosporidium durum is an entomopathogenic fungus in the phylum Blastocladiomycota. It infects many ant species and is distributed almost globally [1] .

Contents

Taxonomic history

Karl Hölldobler described Myrmicinosporidium durum from infected ants of the species Leptothorax tuberum in Wurzburg, Germany [2] .

Subsequent research confirmed the fungal nature of the infection and suggested a relationship with Coelomomyces in the Chytridiomycetes [3] .

In 2021, Gorczak and Trigos-Peral demonstrated using rDNA markers from infected Solenopsis fugax workers that M. durum belongs to Blastocladiomycota [1] .

Morphology

Myrmicinosporidium durum infection with spores throughout hemocoel of Camponotus claripes ant collected in Malaise trap, 15-22 January 2021, Aranda, ACT, Australia Myrmicinospiridium durum.jpg
Myrmicinosporidium durum infection with spores throughout hemocoel of Camponotus claripes ant collected in Malaise trap, 15-22 January 2021, Aranda, ACT, Australia

Myrmicinosporidium durum is normally detected because of its dark thick-walled spores that develop in large numbers inside the insect's hemocoel and that can be seen through the cuticle [1] . Hyphae and mycelium were not seen before 1993 [3] .

Distribution

Myrmicinosporidium durum has been recorded from many European countries [3] [4] , North America [3] and Australia [1] [4] .

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gorczak, Michał; Trigos-Peral, Gema (22 June 2021). "Solving a long-standing enigma: Myrmicinosporidium durum belongs to Blastocladiomycota, a phylum of primarily aquatic fungi". Journal of Invertebrate Pathology . 184 (107640): 1–6. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Hölldobler, Karl (September 1933). "Weitere Mitteilungen Über Haplosporidien in Ameisen". Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde (in German). 6: 91–100. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sanchez-Peña, Sergio; Buschiner, Alfred; Humber, Richard (January 1993). "Myrmicinosporidium durum, an Enigmatic Fungal Parasite of Ants". Journal of Invertebrate Pathology . 61 (1): 90–96. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Myrmicinosporidium durum". iNaturalist . Retrieved 24 November 2025.
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