Lecanicillium lecanii


Lecanicillium lecanii is now an approved name of an entomopathogenic fungus species, that was previously widely known as Verticillium lecanii, but is now understood to be an anamorphic form in the Cordyceps group of genera in the Clavicipitaceae. Isolates formerly classified as V. lecanii could be L. attenuatum, L. lecanii, L. longisporum, L. muscarium or L. nodulosum. For example, several recent papers, such as Kouvelis et al. who carried out mitochondrial DNA studies, refer to the name L. muscarium.
L. lecanii itself appears primarily to be a pathogen of soft scale insects.

Synonyms

The Index Fungorum, referring to L. lecanii, lists the following synonyms:Cephalosporium coccorum Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 10: 175 Cephalosporium dipterigenum Petch, Naturalist, ser. 3: 102 Cephalosporium lecanii Zimm., Teysmannia 9: 243 Cephalosporium lecanii f. coccorum Bałazy, Borbäsia 14: 132 Cephalosporium subclavatum Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 25: 262 Cordyceps confragosa G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, in Sung, Hywel-Jones, Sung, Luangsa-ard, Shrestha & Spatafora, Stud. Mycol. 57: 49 Sporotrichum lichenicola Berk. & Broome, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 14: 102 Torrubiella confragosa Mains, Mycologia 41: 305 Verticillium coccorum Westerd., CBS List of Cultures : 103 Verticillium lecanii Viégas, Revista Inst. Café São Paulo 14: 754

Role in Horticulture

This fungus was first described in 1861 and has a worldwide distribution. Insects are infected when they come into contact with the sticky fungal spores which then grow and invade the body, thus the internal organs are consumed, leading to their death. In horticulture and agriculture, "V. lecanii" isolates were developed for controlling insect pests such as whitefly, thrips and aphids, by RA Hall and HD Burges. Biological pesticides based on Lecanicillium spp. are now marketed as 'Mycotal' and 'Vertalec' by Koppert in the Netherlands. Other products based on these fungi have been developed elsewhere for use in cash crops, oil seeds, soybeans, ornamentals and vegetables.