A species of the fungus genus Conidiobolus as a pathogen of a lycosid spider

摘要

A lycosid spider caught in a pitfall trap in central Switzerland attracted our attention due to the numer-ous scattered whitish spots on the dorsal abdomen. A microscopic examination revealed a fungus infection. However, only conidiophores were present. A few of them were in an early stage of coni-dia formation. The diameter of the unbranched conidiophores, the way conidia formation is initiated and the number, size and distribution of nuclei allowed us to attribute the fungus to the genus Coni-diobolus of the order Entomophthorales. It is the first record of an entomophthoralean fungus infect-ing Aranea.