Key wo ds: Fo micidae, Madei a, Lasius g andis, pa asi ic ungi.
Laboulbeniales a e an enigma ic and ascina ing g oup o ungi (San ama ia, 2001;
Wei & Beakes, 1995). Ec opa asi ic on a di e se assemblage o a h opods, he
majo i y in insec s, specially bee les and lies, and a ew a achnids (mi es) and
millipedes (Ta a es 1985), hose ungi show a a he high le el o hos speci ici y.
They cause li le, i any, damage o hei hos s. Thei s udy emains in a di icul
in e ace, be ween en omologis s and mycologis s and, consequen ly, clea ly be-
long in he domain o a e y ew specialis s in he wo ld.
Among he hymenop e a, only an s a e known o ha bou some species o
Laboulbeniales, om he gene a Rickia, Dimo phomyces and Laboulbenia. The
i s genus has one species pa asi ic on an s, R. wasmannii Ca a a, and is lim-
i ed o My mica an s (sub amily My micinae) in Eu ope. Dimo phomyces o mi-
cicola (Speg.) I.I.Ta ., has been collec ed only once, in A gen ina, on
Pa a echina (as P enolepis; Spegazzini, 1917). Fo he hi d genus, h ee
species ha e been desc ibed om an s: one species, Laboulbenia o mica um
Thax e , has been ex ensi ely epo ed om No h Ame ica (Bequae , 1920;
Cole, 1935, 1949; Judd & Benjamin 1958; Nuhn & Van Dyke, 1979; Smi h,
1917, 1928, 1946, 1961; Wheele , 1910). Hos s belong in he gene a Acan-
homyops, Fo mica, Lasius, My mecocys us, Polye gus, and P enolepis.
Laboulbenia eci onis G. Blum was epo ed on a my an s Eci on (sub amily
Eci oninae) om B azil (Blum, 1924). Laboulbenia campono i S.W.T. Ba a,
he hi d Laboulbenia pa asi ic on an s, is known om a me e ou locali ies
in Eu asia: one in India (Ba a, 1963) and Tu key (Espadale & Lodos, 1983),
O sis 18, 2003 97-101
No a
Laboulbenia o mica um Thax . (Ascomyco a,
Laboulbeniales) c osses he A lan ic
Xa ie Espadale
Uni a d’Ecologia and CREAF.
Uni e si a Au ònoma de Ba celona. 08193 Bella e a, Spain.
[email p o ec ed]
Se gi San ama ia
Uni a de Bo ànica, Depa amen de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vege al i d’Ecologia.
Uni e si a Au ònoma de Ba celona. 08193 Bella e a (Ba celona). Spain.
[email p o ec ed]
Manusc ip ecei ed in Sep embe 2003
wo in Spain (Balazuc e al., 1982; Espadale & Blasco, 1990), solely on Cam-
pono us an s. All an s ha bou ing L. o mica um o L. campono i belong in he
sub amily Fo micinae.
Du ing a ecen su ey o he an s in Madei a (We e e e al. in p ep) i has
been ound ha Laboulbenia o mica um, o me ly known om No h Ame ica,
has c ossed he A lan ic and eached he island o Madei a.
Ma e ial s udied
The sample was collec ed 26 June 2002, a sea le el, wi hin an u ban si e wi h
ude al ege a ion, nex o a bus pa king lo and a some 50 m om he sea in
he small own o São Vicen e (32º 48’ 15’’ N, 17º 02’ 38’’ W), no h o he is-
land. Fi e ou o ele en wo ke s we e in es ed and hey we e unning abou as
de ly as unin es ed wo ke s. Indi idual in es a ion le el was ex ao dina y (Figs.
1, 2) and, using he wo ds o Wheele (1910), “so excessi e ha hey esemble
hedgehogs, ai ly b is ling wi h u s o he ungus”. I is clea ha L. o mica um
has success ully b oken he admi ed sani a y p o ec ion p o ided by he sec e-
ion o me apleu al glands in an s (Maschwi z e al., 1970; Veal & T imble, 1992;
Mackin osh e al., 1995). Pe haps he e y high ai humidi y le el nex o he beach
a São Vicen e and > 1200 mm annual ain diminishes in an unknown way he
p o ec i e e ec o me apleu al gland sec e ions in his an . Laboulbenia o mi-
ca um is one o he smalles species in he genus (Figs. 3, 4), and a u he in-
e es o his species is i s dioecism (Benjamin & Shano , 1950), ex emely a e
wi hin he genus (San ama ia, 1996).
The hos species was he soil nes ing Lasius g andis Fo el, he mos common
na i e an on he island, om sho eline o moun ain op, in bo h ela i ely undis-
u bed and highly dis u bed habi a s (We e e e al. in p ep). Lasius g andis is
known om he Ibe ian Peninsula, he Magh eb, Madei a, Azo es, Balea ic is-
lands, and Cana y islands. I inhabi s om he sea le el up o 2800 m., a oiding
xe o he mous bio opes (Sei e , 1992). O he an species collec ed he e we e Hy-
popone a edua di and Monomo ium ca bona ium. Nea ly wo hi ds o he an
species p esen ly known om Madei a a e non na i e; hus, he now ex ended
geog aphical dis ibu ion o Laboulbenia o mica um is no unexpec ed, albei none
o i s No hame ican hos s is known om Madei a. So, he ques ion is posed how
did L. o mica um each he island. Vouche specimens o he ungus ha e been
deposi ed a BCB Myco heca he ba ium and one in es ed an wo ke a he Mu-
seum Municipal do Funchal.
Acknowledgmen s
Do a Aguin Pombo and An ónio Aguia we e kind and help ul companions
in Madei a. This wo k was suppo ed by The Na ional Geog aphic Socie y
(7241-02) o X.E. and by MCYT and FEDER (REN2002-04068-C02-02, “Flo a
Micológica Ibé ica V) o S.S.
98 O sis 18, 2003 X. Espadale ; S. San ama ia
Laboulbenia o mica um in Madei a O sis 18, 2003 99
Fig. 1. Leg ( emu + ibia) o an in es ed wo ke Lasius g andis. Scale ba = 500 µm. Fig. 2.
Femu o an in es ed wo ke . The do sal ace o he emu shows >60 da k, aguely i-
angula spo s, indica ing he poin o inse ion o li ing Laboulbenia plus some le by
ab aded o allen specimens. Scale ba = 250 µm. Fig. 3. A pai o ma u e halli, wi h he
male a le and he emale a igh . The male shows wo an he idia (a ow). Scale ba =
50 µm. Fig. 4. A pai o imma u e halli, wi h he male a le and he emale a igh .
The male shows one an he idium in de elopmen (a ow). Scale ba = 50 µm.
Re e ences
Balazuc, J.; Espadale , X.; Gi bal, J. 1982. Laboulbenials (Ascomice s) ibè iques. Coll.
Bo . 13: 403-421.
Ba a, S.W.T. 1963. Some Laboulbeniaceae (Ascomyce es) on insec s om India and In-
donesia. Ame . J. Bo . 50: 986-992.
Benjamin, R.K.; Shano , L. 1950. Disco e y o dioecism in Laboulbenia o mica um.
Science 111: 33-34.
Bequae , J. 1920. A new hos o Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e, wi h ema ks on he
ungous pa asi es o an s. Bull. B ookl. En om. Soc. 15: 71-79.
Blum, G. 1924. Zwei neue Laboulbenien aus B asilien. Cen albl. Bak e iol. 2 (62): 300-
302.
Cole, A.C. 1935. Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e , a ungus in es ing some Idaho an s,
and a lis o i s known No h Ame ican hos s (Hym.: Fo micidae). En omol. News 46:
24.
Cole, A.C. 1949. New an hos s o he ungus Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e . En omol.
News 60: 17.
Espadale , X.; Blasco, J. 1990. Laboulbenia campono i Ba a, 1963 (Fungi, Ascomyco-
ina) en A agón. Lucas Mallada 2: 75-80.
Espadale , X.; Lodos, N. 1983. Campono us baldaccii Eme y (Hymenop e a) pa asi ized
by Laboulbenia campono i Ba a (Ascomyce es). Tu k. J. Plan P o . 7: 217-219.
Judd, W.W.; Benjamin, R.K. 1958. The an Lasius alienus (Foe s e ) pa asi ized by he
ungus Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e a London, On a io. Can. En omol. 90: 419.
Mackin osh, J.A; T imble, J.E.; Jones, M.K.; Ka uso, P.H.; Bea ie, A.J.; Veal, D.A. 1995.
An imic obial mode o ac ion o sec e ions om he me apleu al gland o My mecia
gulosa (Aus alian bull an ). Can. J. Mic obiol. 41: 136-144.
Maschwi z, U.; Koob, K; Schildknech , H. 1970. Ein Bei ag zu Funk ion de Me a ho-
acald üse de Ameisen.” J. Insec Physiol. 16: 387-404.
Nuhn, T.P.;Van Dyke, C.G. 1979. Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e (Ascomyco ina:
Laboulbeniales) on an s (Hymenop e a; Fo micidae) in Raleigh, No h Ca olina wi h
a new hos eco d. P oc. En omol. Soc. Wash. 81: 101-104.
San ama ia, 1996. Dioecism in wo species o Laboulbenia (Fungi, Ascomyco ina,
Laboulbeniales). No a Hedwigia 63: 63-70.
San ama ia, S. 2001. Los Laboulbeniales, un g upo enigmá ico de hongos pa ási os de
insec os. Laza oa 22: 3-19.
Sei e , B. 1992. A axonomic e ision o he Palaea c ic membe s o he an subgenus
Lasius s. s . (Hymenop e a: Fo micidae). Abhand. Be. Na u kundemus. Goe li z
66(5): 1-66.
Smi h, M.R. 1917. An in es a ion o Lasius nige L. a . ame icana wi h Laboulbenia o -
mica um Thax e . J. Econ. En omol. 10: 447.
Smi h, M.R. 1928. Rema ks conce ning he dis ibu ion and hos s o he pa asi ic an un-
gus Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e . Bull. B ookl. En omol. Soc. 23: 104-106.
Smi h, M.R. 1946. An hos s o he ungus, Laboulbenia o mica um Thax e . P oc.
En omol. Soc. Wash. 48: 29-31.
Smi h, M.R. 1961. Ano he an genus hos o he pa asi ic ungus Laboulbenia Robin. P oc.
En . Soc. Wash. 63: 58.
Spegazzini, C. 1917. Re isión de las Laboulbeniales a gen inas. Anales Mus. Nac. His .
Buenos Ai es 29: 445-688.
Ta a es, I.I. 1985. Laboulbeniales (Fungi, Ascomyce es). Mycol. Mem. 9: 1-627.
100 O sis 18, 2003 X. Espadale ; S. San ama ia
Veal, D.A.; T imble, J.E.; Bea ie, A.J. 1992. An imic obial p ope ies o sec e ions om
he me apleu al glands o My mecia gulosa ( he Aus alian bull an ). J. Appl. Bac e-
iol. 72: 188-194.
Wei , A.; Beakes, G. 1995. An in oduc ion o he Laboulbeniales: a ascina ing g oup o
en omogenous ungi. Mycologis 9: 6-10.
Wheele , W.M. 1910. Colonies o an s (Lasius neonige Eme y) in es ed wi h Laboulbe-
nia o mica um Thax e . Psyche 17: 83-86.
Laboulbenia o mica um in Madei a O sis 18, 2003 101
