Entomopathogenic fungi (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) on a termite (Blattodea: Mastotermitidae) trapped in Miocene amber from Chiapas, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Palaeomycological material has rarely been reported in Mexican localities, especially parasitic fungi. In this paper, we present the first formal report of an interaction between an entomopathogenic fungus and an insect trapped in the Miocene amber from Chiapas, Mexico. The described syninclusion corresponds to two well-developed fungal fruiting bodies and a third one in development, assigned to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota: Sordariomycetes), emerging from the thorax and abdomen of a termite (Blattodea: Mastotermitidae). This syninclusion represents a remarkable example of biological interactions in ancient tropical environments reflected in the fossil record.

KEYWORDS:

• Insect-fungal interaction
• syninclusion
• Simojovel
• interspecific interactions
• parasitism

Acknowledgments

We thank Biol. Susana Guzmán for her support in obtaining the microphotographs at LANABIO (Laboratorio Nacional de Biodiversidad), Instituto de Biología, UNAM. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments that contributed to improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Secretaría de Investigación y Posgrado – Instituto Politécnico Nacional (20230153) grant to E.E.R.