Pathogens of the spruce bark beetles Ips typographus and Ips duplicatus

Pathogens of two important bark beetles, Ips typographus and Ips duplicatus, both in outbreaks connected with infestation of spruces by the fungus Armillaria ostoyae, were compared at four localities in the eastern Czech Republic. Low infestations of Chytridiopsis typographi, Nosema typographi, Menzbieria chalcographi, and Gregarina typographi were detected in I. typographus. In I. duplicatus, only C. typographi and G. typographi were found and with low infection levels. The microsporidium, Larssoniella duplicati, was not detected in I. typographus, but was detected in I. duplicatus at all localities in almost 80% of the samples (a sample consisted of 40–50 beetles collected at one locality in one period) and often with a very high infection level (up to 57% of the beetles infected in a sample). The infection level of L. duplicati did not differ between generations of I. duplicatus. I. duplicatus overwinters mainly in the adult stage, and no decrease in the number of infected overwintering I. duplicatus was observed. The relatively constant infection level of L. duplicati suggests that transmission is unlikely to be horizontal via oral ingestion.