Insect feeding on spores of a bracket fungus, Elfvingia applanata (Pers.) Karst. (Ganodermataceae, Aphyllophorales)

Insects visiting sporocarps of Elfvingia applanata, a wood-rotting bracket fungus, were examined in Kyoto, central Japan. Mycodrosophila flies (Drosophilidae: Diptera) were predominant and visited the spore-producing sporocarps exclusively. They were observed feeding on the spores, and a number of spores seemed to be alive even after having passed through insects digestive tracts. In addition, the insects attached a number of spores on their body surfaces. In a rearing experiment with insects caught from E. applanata sporocarps, Mycodrosophila flies excreted 7700–469 000 and dropped 10–000–329 000 of viable spores during 48 h after collection. They were supposed to migrate among the sporocarps of other bracket fungi growing on different logs or stumps, suggesting that Mycodrosophila flies may act as spore-dispersal agents for E. applanata.     

Graphiolales: Basidiomycetes parasitic on palms

Graphiola phoenicis was restudied by light microscopy and investigated in detail with the scanning and the transmission electron microscopes. Hyphae of the fruitbody are mainly dikaryotic. Karyogamy occurs in cells which are interpreted as meiosporangia (basidia), and which develop in chains. Shortly after karyogamy, meiosis takes place in these basidia. Primary, sessile meiospores are then formed which later divide and produce thick-walled diaspores. The latter germinate either by hyphae or by yeast-like budding. The nutritional requirements of pure cultures of the yeast stage were also investigated. Life cycle, karyological criteria, ultrastructural details, and chemical tests clearly show thatGraphiola belongs in theBasidiomycetes. The taxonomic position within theHeterobasidiomycetes is discussed and the orderGraphiolales is validated.