November Mushroom of the Month: Icing Sugar Fungus, Beauveria bassiana
🍄⭐The November mushroom of the month is the Icing Sugar Fungus, Beauveria bassiana
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a microscopic menance
Beauveria bassiana is a white mold fungus that grows in soils around the world. It is parasitic on various arthropod species, causing causing white muscardine disease, making it an entomo-pathogenic fungus. The species is named after the Italian entomologist Agostino Bassi, who discovered it in 1835 in silkworms. Bassi performed the first infection experi-ments, and determined the fungus to be the cause of the muscardine disease, which then led to carriers transmitting it by airborne means.
taxonomy
When spores of B. bassiana come in contact with a suitable insect host it produces a white mold that resembles frost, or frosting on a cake, giving it the name Icing Sugar Fungus. The white spore balls are made up of many conidia that are single-celled, haploid, and hydrophobic.
Microscopic identification: The short, ovoid conidiogenous cells that produce the conidia have a narrow apical extension called a rachis, which elongates into a long zig-zag extension.
Field identification: Insects that appear to be whimsically decorated with frosting but are actually dead and covered with mold.
a gardners new best friend
Beauveria bassiana may be a menace to arthropods, but it’s a fantastic ally for gardeners. Researchers quickly recognized its potential for insect control, especially since it’s harmless to humans and other non-arthropods. When spores are applied to leaves, soil, or seeds, they remain active until encountering a susceptible insect host.
The spores germinate and produce hyphae that penetrate the insect’s cuticle and invade its body. Inside, the fungus multiplies and kills the host. B. bassiana is highly valued in agriculture for its versatility and is being studied as a biological insecticide against termites, whiteflies, and other pests, as well as for controlling malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.
