ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI CARRIED BY THE CAVE ORB WEAVER SPIDER, META OVALIS (ARANEAE,TETRAGNATHIDAE), WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR MYCOFLORA TRANSER TO CAVE CRICKETS

摘要

We report the presence of the entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria spp. andPaecilomyces spp., associated with female adults of the cave orb weaver spider, Metaovalis, from Laurel Cave (Carter Cave State Resort Park, Carter Co., Kentucky). Therewas also an abundance of saprophytic Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Penicillium spp.,Rhizopus spp., and to a lesser extent, Absidia spp., Cladosporium spp., Mycelia sterilia,and Trichoderma spp. These are mostly saprobes that reflect the mycoflora that aretypical of the cave environment. Incubation at 25 °C resulted in increased growth of allfungi compared to growth at 12 °C (cave conditions) on each of four different kinds ofculture media, indicating that the cave environment is suppressive for the growth of thesefungi. Topically-applied inocula of Beauveria sp. and Paecilomyces sp. (spider isolates)were not pathogenic to M. ovalis, but these fungi were pathogenic to the cave cricket,Hadenoecus cumberlandicus. One possibility is that the Beauveria spp. and Paecilomycesspp. carried by M. ovalis could negatively impact the survival of cave crickets that co-occur with these spiders, thus possibly altering the ecological dynamics within the caves.