Entomophthorales

Green peach aphid ( Myzus persicae), infected with Pandora neoaphidis

The fly killer Fungal ( Entomophthorales ) are an order, the sooner the Jochpilzen ( Zygomycetes ) were asked, but now form a separate group within the fungi. It is with those who are all about living parasitic fungi that infect insects. Other species within the group are parasitic on plants or on other animals to mammals and man. In addition to these parasitic species also exist saprophytes that live in dung.

Features

The mushrooms have a youth form a thallus, which is not segmented by septa. For this to a mycelium, whose hyphae consists of many multinucleated cells developed.

For asexual reproduction form the mushrooms in the sporangia spores. For other species, conidia develop from the sporangia. These conidia are called Angiokonidien and sit on club-shaped carriers, of which they can be active centrifuged, and they can fly far up to two inches.

System

Within the fungi provide the fly killer Fungal probably the sister group of mainly saprophytic mold -like head ( Mucorales ), which, however, also contains a number of parasitic species. This relationship is due primarily to the very similar course of development and the transformation of the sporangia to conidia, where there are different levels of Konidienentwicklung in both groups.

Within the fly killer Fungal two families are distinguished, which are referred to as Basidiobolaceae and Entomophthoraceae. The essential feature of the members of the first group are very large gametangia in which a merger takes place, without having to enclose one before. The zygospores are formed in the larger female gametangia.

Within the Basidiobolaceae example Basidiobolus ranarum lives on the excrement of frogs and lizards while others Basidiobolus types in humans and other mammals and in birds contagious skin and connective tissue disorders trigger. Which also belong to this family Conibolus species parasitize insects. The most familiar type of Entomophthoraceae is the Flying Killer ( Entomophthora muscae ) which causes periodic mass mortality of houseflies in the fall. Other species of the genus, as well as for example the genera and Delacroicia Zoophthora parasitize insects while Pandora, Ancylistes and Completoria species live on the prothallia of algae and ferns.

People and fly killer Fungal

For the people who fly killer Fungal are relevant in two respects. So parasitize several species of the group on the skin and in connective tissues of mammals, including humans. They are in addition to several types of head mold pathogen of relatively nonspecific zygomycoses that may develop for the person concerned to life-threatening diseases. On the other hand, insect pathogenic fly killer Fungal play a role in biological pest control, where they can be targeted against agricultural pests such as lice because of their host specificity.