DISTRIBUTION OF SPORES 115 



Una, have been found to have conidia of Alternaria solani and of 

 Septoria ly coper sici on their bodies. 



Hendree (1933) isolated from the fecal pellets of termites and 

 from the frass and wood enclosing their burrows 33 genera of 

 fungi, among them Trichoderma and Penicillium. In her opinion 

 these fungi are a common dietary element of the termites Reticuli- 

 termes hesperus, Zootermopsis angiisticollis, and Kalotermes 

 minor. 



Such insect visitors as honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, 

 thrips, and ants were found [Smith and Weiss (1942)] to be 

 capable of transporting spores of Ovulinia azaleae, causing flower 

 spot on cultivated azaleas. 



It has been noted that the females of certain woodwasps, Sir ex 

 gigas and S. cy aliens, always have elements of the wood-rotting 

 fundus, Sterenm sanguine olentum, in the pouches at the anterior 

 end of the ovipositor. Whether this association is symbiotic is not 

 known. 



The only conclusion warranted from the foregoing discussion, 

 which is representative of a large volume of reports of insects as 

 disseminating agents, is that many species of insects are concerned. 

 Furthermore, many fungi, both pathogenic and saprogenic, are 

 insect-borne. It remains to be determined whether virulence in 

 fungi is modified by passage through the alimentary tract. It is 

 known that some species have already germinated when the fecal 

 pellets are voided, although essentially nothing is known about the 

 effects of digestive enzymes on germination. 



More attention should be given also to the necessity of host in- 

 juries by the insect for inoculation and infection. In this connec- 

 tion there is evidence that sugar cane injured by the sugar-cane 

 borer, Spenophorns obscnrus, is more subject to attack by Col- 

 letotrichiim jalcatnm. Moreover, onions infested with thrips are 

 predisposed to infection by Feronospora destrnctior, and grasses 

 punctured by aphids are more susceptible to Erysiphe graminis. 



Leach (1935) has expressed the opinion that insects are not 

 merely disseminators of inoculum in the case of pathogenic fungi, 

 but that the insect-fungi relationship is highly organized and has 

 broad biologic and evolutionary significance. 



Other animals as vectors of fungi. Besides insects, many 

 other animals transport fungi, but usually dissemination by them 

 is entirely fortuitous. Among the animals known to be or sus- 



