290 



THE LOWER FUNGI— PHYCOMYCETE^ 



It was regarded by Peck as a relative of Protomyces, but Thaxter 

 (1888) and Forbes (1888) working independently transferred 

 it to the Entomophthoraceae. Their knowledge of the fungus 

 was very imperfect, and its real nature has been elucidated only 

 recently by Speare (1921). Though clearly a member of the 

 Entomophthoraceae it differs from the other genera in several 

 outstanding respects. 



The vegetative growth of the fungus is confined to the softer 

 tissues in the posterior segments of the body of the host. These 

 segments, as a result of their complete destruction, disintegrate 



Fig. 105. — Masso/spora cicadina Peck, (o) Group of coiiidiophores. (h) 

 Conidial formation, (c) Conidium. {d) Resting spores formed as buds from 

 hyphal bodies, (e) Mature resting spore. {After Speare 1921.) 



progressively forward until as much as half of the body of the 

 insect has fallen away (Fig. 106). Meanwhile the host remains 

 alive for a considerable period, and may fly and crawl about 

 among its fellows. This process of sloughing off of the body of 

 the insect is unknown in other genera of the Entomophthoraceae 

 and is here concerned in spore dispersal. In Massospora the 

 conidia are neither borne over the surface of the host nor ejected 

 forcibly from the tips of the conidiophores. They are formed 

 within the body of the insect (see Amer. Jour. Bot., 16 : 394, 1929) 

 and, though delimited on the conidiophore in the manner usual 

 in this group, are held in the approximate position in which 

 produced, finally cohering with one another to form a powdery 

 mass of spores. They are exposed by the disintegration of the 



