Green muscardine disease is the presentation of a fungal infection of insects caused by members of the ''
Metarhizium
''Metarhizium'' is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Clavicipitaceae family. With the advent of genetic profiling, placing these fungi in proper taxa has now become possible. Most turn out to be the asexual forms (anamorphs) of fungi in ...
'' or ''
Nomuraea
''Nomuraea'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae.
The genus name of ''Nomuraea'' is in honour of H. Nomura (b.1897), who was a Japanese scientist.
The genus was circumscribed by André Maublanc in Bull. Soc. Mycol. France vol.19 ...
'' species. Once the fungus has killed its host it covers the host's cuticle with a layer of green spores, hence the name of the disease.
It was originally discovered as a pest of
silk worm
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), cocoons. The be ...
s, upon which it was highly lethal.
To insect mycologists and microbial control specialists, "green muscardine" refers to fungal infection caused by ''Metarhizium'' spp., whereas in
sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
, "green muscardine" refers to a similar fungal infection caused by ''
Nomuraea rileyi
''Metarhizium rileyi''Kepler, Humber, Bischoff, Rehner SA (2014) ''Mycologia'' 106(4): 824. is a species of entomopathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae
The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 es ...
''.
Green muscardine has been identified as disease of over 200 known insect species.
References
{{Reflist
Insect diseases