Speare : Entomogenous Fungi 



65 



There is little doubt therefore in the opinion of the writer that 

 Isaria surinamensis Voss. and /. gracilis Voss. (not Isaria gracilis 

 Speg.), should be associated with the forms herein considered, but 

 whether or not they are identical with any of the species described 

 below cannot be determined from the data at hand. 



Thaxter (1891) described an interesting fungus, Desmidio- 

 spora myrmecophila, which was found on an ant in Connecticut. 

 While its resting spores are anomolous in character, and although 

 no structures analogous to the synnemata of Hirsutella were de- 

 scribed, its subulate sporophores and fusoid spores are of the 

 same type as the corresponding organs of the forms under 

 consideration. 



In this connection, it should be noted that von Hohnel (1909) 

 agrees with the writer in concluding that fungi of this type 

 should be removed from the genus Isaria. He proposed, how- 

 ever, a new genus of Hyphomycetes, Phaeoisaria, to include 

 among other things Isaria surinamensis Voss., /. gracilis Voss. 

 and /. sphaecophila Ditm., but it is evident that if any name 

 other than Isaria is to be used for fungi of this type it must be 

 Hirsutella. 



The published information on the subject and the specimens at 

 hand show that such fungi are found upon members of all of 

 the larger insect orders except the Diptera, and Dr. Roland 

 Thaxter, of Harvard University, has informed the writer that he 

 has in his herbarium similar fungi on flies. The hosts, so far as 

 known at the present time, may be noted in detail in the follow- 

 ing table. 



A glance at this table will show at once that of the specimens 

 at hand the greater part have come from tropical or subtropical 

 regions, and also that the greater number of hosts are found 

 among the Hemiptera, the family Fulgoridae being particularly 

 conspicuous. Furthermore, it will be noted that two of the 

 hemipterous hosts — Peregrinus maidis and Perkinsiella sacchari- 

 cida — are pests of considerable economic importance in the locali- 

 ties mentioned. 



The illustrations on Plate 3 show the general character of the 

 fruiting stalks or synnemata, which in all of the species but one, 



