The Entomophthorales are an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

that were previously classified in the class Zygomycetes. A new subdivision, Entomophthoromycotina, has recently been circumscribed for them. Most species of the Entomophthorales are pathogens of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s. A few attack

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...

s, and

tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserb� ...

s, and some (particularly species of the genus '' Conidiobolus'') are free-living saprotrophs. The name Entomophthorales is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

for insect destroyer ('' entomo-'' = referring to insects, and '' phthor'' = "destruction"). Pandora neoaphidis

Highlighted species

* '' Basidiobolus ranarum'', a commensal fungus of frogs and a mammal pathogen * '' Conidiobolus coronatus'', a saprotrophic fungus of leaf litter and a mammal pathogen * ''

Entomophaga maimaiga ''Entomophaga maimaiga'' is a Japanese fungus which has shown striking success in managing spongy moth populations in North America. Etymology ''Maimaiga'' is the Japanese name for the spongy moth. History In 1908, shortly after classical e ...

'', a biocontrol agent of spongy moths * ''

Entomophthora muscae ''Entomophthora muscae'' is a species of pathogenic fungus in the order Entomophthorales which causes a fatal disease in flies. It can cause epizootic outbreaks of disease in houseflies and has been investigated as a potential biological control ...

'', a pathogen of houseflies * '' Massospora'' spp., pathogens of periodical cicadas * ''

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek language, Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions ...

'', including '' Pandora neoaphidis'', an obligate pathogen of aphids

Biology

Most species of the Entomophthorales produce ballistic asexual spores that are forcibly discharged. When not landing on a suitable host, these spores can germinate to make one of several alternate spore forms, including a smaller version of the original spore, or (in some species) an adhesive spore elevated on a very slender conidiophore called a capilliconidiophore.

Classification

Recent debate has centered on whether the

Basidiobolaceae The Basidiobolaceae are a family of fungi in the monotypic order Basidiobolales. All fungal cells of this family are exclusively uninucleate and their relatively large nuclei contain a nucleolus, but no heterochromatin.http://zygomycetes.org/inde ...

should be included in the Entomophthorales, or raised to ordinal status.

Molecular systematics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

approaches so far give an ambiguous answer. Some analyses suggest the

are more closely related to certain chytrid fungi than to the Entomophthorales. Others find weak support to maintain them in the Entomophthorales. Morphological characters can be found to support either hypothesis. * '' Zygaenobia'' Weiser 1951 * Family Ancylistaceae Schröter 1893 ** '' Ancyclistes'' Pfitzer 1872 ** '' Conidiobolus'' Brefeld 1884 emend. Humber 1989 'Conidiobolus'' (''Capillidium'') Ben-Ze’ev & Kenneth 1982; ''Conidiobolus'' (''Conidiobolus'') (Brefeld) Ben-Ze’ev & Kenneth 1982; ''Conidiobolus'' (''Delacroixia'') (Sacc. & Syd.) Tyrrell & MacLeod 1972] ** ''Macrobiotophthora'' Reukauf 1912 emend. Tucker 1981 * Family Completoriaceae Humber 1989 ** '' Completoria'' Lohde 1874 * Family

Entomophthoraceae Entomophthoraceae is a family of fungi in the order Entomophthorales. This has been supported by molecular phylogenetic analysis (Gryganskyi et al. 2012).Gryganskyi AP, Humber RA, Smith ME et al (2012) Molecular phylogeny of the Entomophthoromyco ...

Nowakowski 1877 mpusaceae Clem. & Shear 1931** Subfamily Erynioideae Keller 2005 assosporoideae Keller 2005*** '' Erynia'' (Nowakowski ex Batko 1966) Remaud. & Hennebert 1980.emend. Humber 1989 'Zoophthora'' (''Erynia'') Nowakowski ex Batko 1966*** '' Eryniopsis'' Humber 1984 (in part) *** '' Furia'' (Batko 1966) Humber 2005 'Zoophthora'' (''Furia'') Batko 1966; ''Erynia'' (''Furia'') (Batko 1966) Li & Humber 1984*** '' Orthomyces'' Steinkraus, Humber & Oliver 1988 *** ''

'' Humber 2005 'Erynia''_(''Neopandora'')_Ben-Ze’ev_&_Kenneth_1982.html" ;"title="Neopandora.html" ;"title="'Erynia'' (''Neopandora">'Erynia'' (''Neopandora'') Ben-Ze’ev & Kenneth 1982">Neopandora.html" ;"title="'Erynia'' (''Neopandora">'Erynia'' (''Neopandora'') Ben-Ze’ev & Kenneth 1982*** ''Strongwellsea'' Batko & Weiser 1965 emend. Humber 1976 *** ''Zoophthora'' Batko 1964 emend. Ben-Ze’ev & Kenneth 2005 ** Subfamily Entomophthoroideae Keller 2005 *** '' Batkoa'' Humber 2005 *** ''

Entomophaga ''Entomophaga'' is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true flies within the insect order Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species h ...

'' Batko 1964 emend. Humber 1989 *** ''

Entomophthora ''Entomophthora'' is a fungal genus in the family Entomophthoraceae. Species in this genus are parasitic on flies and other two-winged insects. The genus was circumscribed by German physician Johann Baptist Georg Wolfgang Fresenius (1808-1866) ...

'' Fresenius 1856 'Empusa'' (''Triplosporium'') Thaxter 1888; ''Triplosporium'' (Thaxter 1888) Batko 1964] *** '' Eryniopsis'' Humber 1984 (in part) *** ''Massospora'' Peck 1879 emend. Soper 1974 * Family Meristacraceae Humber 1989 ** '' Meristacrum'' Drechsler 1940 emend. Tucker & Humber 1981 ** '' Tabanomyces'' Couch et al.

References

External links

* G. Benny
Entomophthorales
section of Zygomycetes.org * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1257561 Fungus orders