Abstract
The blue-staining fungus Ceratocystis minor (Hedge.) Hunt is a frequent associate of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman (Dixon and Osgood 1961, Francke-Grosmann 1967). The beetles introduce the fungus into tree phloem, and from there it spreads into the xylem (Bramble and Hoist 1940, Hedgcock 1906, Nelson 1934, Nelson and Beal 1929) where it causes rapid wilting of the tree. Although it has been observed that miscellaneously stained phloem is unfavorable to bark beetle development (Franklin 1970), there is little information available on the role of this fungus in the complex microhabitat of the insect in the host phloem. Most C. minor isolations have not been made from phloem when beetles were present, but from and about older frass-filled galleries or from xylem (Rumbold 1929, 1931). Research reported here indicates that C. minor acting alone is detrimental to D. frontalis development, but that its growth and perithecia production are inhibited in the phloem when it is present with the beetle and other associated microorganisms.
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BARRAS, SJ. 1970. “ANTAGONISM BETWEEN DENDROCTONUS-FRONTALIS COLEOPTERA-SCOLYTIDAE AND FUNGUS CERATOCYSTIS-MINOR.” Annals of the Entomological Society of America63 (4): 1187-. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/63.4.1187.