Beauveria australis finds a new host in French dung beetles introduced to Australia

Valerie Caron; Saleta Pérez Vila; Cécile Gueidan

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2023.107889

Beauveria australis finds a new host in French dung beetles introduced to Australia

J Invertebr Pathol. 2023 Mar:197:107889. doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2023.107889. Epub 2023 Jan 18.

Authors

Valerie Caron¹, Saleta Pérez Vila², Cécile Gueidan³

Affiliations

¹ Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO Black Mountain, Acton 2601, ACT, Australia. Electronic address: Valerie.caron@csiro.au.
² Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO Black Mountain, Acton 2601, ACT, Australia.
³ Australian National Herbarium, National Research Collections Australia, NCMI, CSIRO, Canberra 2601, ACT, Australia; Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Canberra, 2601 ACT, Australia.

PMID: 36681178
DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2023.107889

Abstract

Exotic dung beetles have been introduced to Australia for over 50 years to mitigate issues caused by dung produced by livestock. This study aims at identifying fungi affecting a beetle colony and investigating their source. Fungal hyphae emerging from the cuticle of dead beetles were cultured and a multigene phylogeny showed that Beauveria bassiana and B. australis both infected these introduced beetles, likely acquired through local soil or dung. This is the first record of B. australis infecting family Scarabaeidae. This study highlights the importance of fungal outbreak management in insect rearing before release, and challenges associated with new pathogens.

Keywords: Beauveria australis; Beauveria bassiana; Entomopathogen; Insect rearing; Onthophagus vacca; Scarabaeidae.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Australia
Beauveria* / genetics
Coleoptera*
Feces

Supplementary concepts

Beauveria australis