AUTHOR=Haelewaters Danny , Hiller Thomas , Ceryngier Piotr , Eschen René , Gorczak Michał , Houston Makenna L. , Kisło Kamil , Knapp Michal , Landeka Nediljko , Pfliegler Walter P. , Zach Peter , Aime M. Catherine , Nedvěd Oldřich 

TITLE=Do Biotic and Abiotic Factors Influence the Prevalence of a Common Parasite of the Invasive Alien Ladybird Harmonia axyridis?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.773423

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2022.773423

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Hesperomyces virescens</italic> (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales), a fungal ectoparasite, is thus far reported on <italic>Harmonia axyridis</italic> from five continents: North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. While it is known that <italic>He. virescens</italic> can cause mortality of <italic>Ha. axyridis</italic> under laboratory conditions, the role of biotic and abiotic factors in influencing the distribution of <italic>He. virescens</italic> in the field is unknown. We collected and screened 3,568 adult <italic>Ha. axyridis</italic> from 23 locations in seven countries in Central Europe between October and November 2018 to test the effect of selected host characters and climate and landscape variables on the infection probability with <italic>He. virescens</italic>. Mean parasite prevalence of <italic>He. virescens</italic> on <italic>Ha. axyridis</italic> was 17.9%, ranging among samples from 0 to 46.4%. Host sex, climate, and landscape composition did not have any significant effect on the infection probability of <italic>He. virescens</italic> on <italic>Ha. axyridis</italic>. Two color forms, f. <italic>conspicua</italic> and f. <italic>spectabilis</italic>, had a significantly lower parasite prevalence compared to the common <italic>Ha. axyridis</italic> f. <italic>novemdecimsignata</italic>.</p>