Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa; DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB), Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB), Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
Fungal Biol. 2014 May-Jun;118(5-6):472-83. doi: 10.1016/j.funbio.2014.03.006. Epub 2014 Apr 3.
Bark and ambrosia beetles are ecologically and economically important phloeophagous insects that often have complex symbiotic relationships with fungi and mites. These systems are greatly understudied in Africa. In the present study we identified bark and ambrosia beetles, their phoretic mites and their main fungal associates from native Virgilia trees in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. In addition, we tested the ability of mites to feed on the associated fungi. Four species of scolytine beetles were collected from various Virgilia hosts and from across the CFR. All were consistently associated with various Geosmithia species, fungi known from phloeophagous beetles in many parts of the world, but not yet reported as Scolytinae associates in South Africa. Four beetle species, a single mite species and five Geosmithia species were recovered. The beetles, Hapalogenius fuscipennis, Cryphalini sp. 1, and Scolytoplatypus fasciatus were associated with a single species of Elattoma phoretic mite that commonly carried spores of Geosmithia species. Liparthrum sp. 1 did not carry phoretic mites. Similar to European studies, Geosmithia associates of beetles from Virgilia were constant over extended geographic ranges, and species that share the same host plant individual had similar Geosmithia communities. Phoretic mites were unable to feed on their Geosmithia associates, but were observed to feed on bark beetle larvae within tunnels. This study forms the first African-centred base for ongoing global studies on the associations between arthropods and Geosmithia species. It strengthens hypotheses that the association between Scolytinae beetles and dry-spored Geosmithia species may be more ubiquitous than commonly recognised.
树皮和粉蠹甲虫是具有生态和经济重要性的木质食性昆虫，它们通常与真菌和螨虫有复杂的共生关系。这些系统在非洲研究得很少。在本研究中，我们从南非开普花卉区的本地 Virgilia 树上鉴定了树皮和粉蠹甲虫、它们的携带螨虫和主要真菌伴生物。此外，我们还测试了螨虫取食相关真菌的能力。从各种 Virgilia 宿主和开普花卉区各地收集了四种长蠹科甲虫。所有这些甲虫都与各种 Geosmithia 物种一致相关，这些真菌在世界许多地方的木质食性甲虫中都有发现，但在南非尚未被报道为长蠹科的伴生物。共回收了四种甲虫、一种螨虫和五种 Geosmithia 物种。Hapalogenius fuscipennis、Cryphalini sp. 1 和 Scolytoplatypus fasciatus 这三种甲虫与一种携带 Geosmithia 物种孢子的单一 Elattoma 携带螨虫相关。Liparthrum sp. 1 不携带携带螨虫。与欧洲的研究类似，来自 Virgilia 的甲虫的 Geosmithia 伴生物在广泛的地理范围内是恒定的，并且共享同一宿主植物个体的物种具有相似的 Geosmithia 群落。携带螨虫无法取食它们的 Geosmithia 伴生物，但观察到它们在隧道内取食树皮甲虫幼虫。这项研究为正在进行的全球节肢动物与 Geosmithia 物种之间关联的研究提供了第一个以非洲为中心的基础。它加强了这样的假设，即长蠹科甲虫与干孢 Geosmithia 物种的关联可能比通常认为的更为普遍。
