Trichomycete fungi associated with insect larvae from aquatic environments in Misiones and Tierra del Fuego, provinces of Argentina

LÓPEZ LASTRA, CLAUDIA C; SIRI, AUGUSTO; SCORSETTI ANA C; MARTI, GERARDO A; COSCARON SIXTO; LICHTWARDT ROBERT W

Asheville, NC

Congreso; Mycological Society of America Meeting; 2004

Mycological Society of America

Abstract text:   Trichomycete fungi live obligately associated with arthropod guts from all over the world. Fifteen species of Trichomycetes living in the guts of aquatic insects are reported from two provinces of Argentina at the two territorial extremes: Misiones in the Northeast, and Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost extreme of the country and of the world. Species recorded belong mostly to the Harpellales, and they were identified from guts (hindguts and midguts) of immature stages of Culicidae, Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, (Insecta: Diptera), Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera. Five species of Harpellales were obtained from Misiones and eight species from Tierra del Fuego. In Tierra del Fuego, two of the species belong to the Order Amoebidiales. Most of the species of Trichomycetes reported here were also reported before for other hosts and regions of Argentina, however most are new records for the country and for South America. The lower diversity of Trichomycetes found in Misiones aquatic environments could possibly be due to warmer temperatures of the streams and ponds (15-24º C), compared to Tierra del Fuego with temperatures ranging from 9-15º C.