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DETECTION OF A CHALKBROOD FUNGUS, ASCOSPHAERA AGGREGATA, IN LARVAE OF THE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEE (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE) FROM WESTERN CANADA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

K.W. Richards
K.W. Richards
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Station, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
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Extract

The alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.), is the primary pollinator of commercially grown seed alfalfa in Canada. Chalkbrood is a fungal disease, caused by a complex of Ascosphaerales species (Skou and King 1984) that infect the larvae of many species of bees. One species, Ascosphaera aggregata Skou (Skou 1975), is a severe problem in leafcutter bees in the United States and in some cases has caused losses of more than 65% (Stephen et al. 1981). Mode of dispersal, infestation of bee larvae, sporulation, and associated symptomatology of this pathogen have been described (Vandenberg et al. 1980; Vandenberg and Stephen 1982; McManus and Youssef 1984).

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 117 , Issue 9 , September 1985 , pp. 1143 - 1145
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1985

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References

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