A mid-Cretaceous ambrosia fungus, Paleoambrosia entomophila gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Ascomycota: Ophiostomatales) in Burmese (Myanmar) amber,and evidence for a femoral mycangium |
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Authors: | George O Poinar Fernando E Vega |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA;2. Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA |
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Abstract: | An ambrosia fungus is described from filamentous sporodochia adjacent to a wood–boring ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Yeast-like propagules and hyphal fragments of Paleoambrosia entomophila gen. nov. et sp. nov. occur in glandular sac mycangia located inside the femur of the beetle. This is the first record of a fossil ambrosia fungus, showing that symbiotic associations between wood–boring insects and ectosymbiotic fungi date back some 100 million years ago. The present finding moves the origin of fungus-growing by insects from the Oligocene to the mid-Cretaceous and suggests a Gondwanan origin. |
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Keywords: | Fossil fungus Mycangia New genus New species Platypodinae Symbiosis |
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