Metarhizium majus

Metarhizium majus
Remains of Oryctes rhinoceros adult infected with M. majus: Dipolog, Mindanao, Philippines (1977)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Subkingdom:	Dikarya
Phylum:	Ascomycota
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Order:	Hypocreales
Family:	Clavicipitaceae
Genus:	Metarhizium
Species:	M. majus
Binomial name
Metarhizium majus (J.R. Johnst.) J.F. Bisch., Rehner & Humber (2009)

Metarhizium majus^[1] is the new name given to a group of fungal isolates that are known to be virulent against Scarabaeidae, a family of beetles. Previously, this species has had variety status in Metarhizium anisopliae (var. majus) and its name is derived from characteristically very large spores (typically 2.5–4 µm x 10–14 µm long) for the genus Metarhizium. There has been considerable interest in developing isolates of this species into mycoinsecticides: especially for coconut and oil palm beetle pests in SE Asia, the Pacific region and Africa.

Important Isolates

• The epitype is isolate ARSEF 1914: derived from a dried US National Fungus Collection culture (BPI 878297)^[1].

References

1. ^ Bischoff J.F., Rehner S.A. and Humber R.A. (2009). "A multilocus phylogeny of the Metarhizium anisopliae lineage". Mycologia 101 (4): 512–530. doi:10.3852/07-202. PMID 19623931. 

See also

• Metarhizium