Role of two phoretic mites in transmission of bluestain fungus, Ceratocystis minor |
| |
| Authors: | J. ROBERT BRIDGES JOHN C. MOSER |
| |
| Affiliation: | U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Pineville, Louisiana, U.S.A. |
| |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. - 1 Tarsonemus mites phoretic on southern pine beetles were shown to be hypervectors of bluestain fungus, Ceratocystis minor (Hedgcock 1906).
- 2 Beetles with phoretic mites had significantly more C.minor than did mite-free beetles.
- 3 Over 90% of tarsonemid mites collected from beetle-infested inner bark and 59% of mites phoretic on emerging beetles carried C.minor spores.
- 4 This association is an interesting example of a three-way mutualism among insects, mites and fungi.
|
| |
| Keywords: | Dendroctonus frontalis bark beetle Ceratocystis minor mite phoresy fungus transmission vector hypervector |
|
|
