Fungal Genomics & Biology
Open Access

Abstract

A Mid-Cretaceous Ectoparasitic Fungus, Spheciophila adercia gen et sp. nov., Attached to a Wasp in Myanmar Amber

George Poinar Jr.

A mid-Cretaceous ectoparasitic fungus in Myanmar amber is described as Spheciophila adercia gen. et sp. nov. in the new Family Spheciophilaceae fam. nov. While the specimen shares an ectoparasitic habit with representatives of the Laboulbeniales, morphological and behavioral features are not consistent with members of that group. The fossil is attached to the abdominal tergite of a primitive wasp. Its presence establishes a unique lineage of ectoparasitic insect fungi in the mid-Cretaceous. The present paper describes this interesting fossil, which adds to the diversity of ectoparasitic fungi and their insect hosts some 100 mya.