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The mycoflora of domesticated and wild bees (Apoidea)

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Abstract

Fungi including yeasts are common in the honey stomachs and provisions of diverse bees. They may be parasites, commensals or mutualistic. Yeasts, singly or in association with bacteria, are pioneer colonizers during a microbial succession in larval cells of many subterranean bees. They are followed by fungi such asAspergillus, Penicillium, Emericellopsis, Sartorya, Pseudoarachniotus, Gymnoascus, Carpenteles andFusarium. Aspergillus flavus andSaccharomyces spp. are pathogenic to many species of bees, and fungi are the main cause of declining alkali bee populations. There are 124 species of fungi, including 36 new records, associated with Apoidea; 49 species are associated with alkali bees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Plant Science Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, 20705, Beltsville, Md.

    L. R. Batra

  2. Research conducted at Utah State University, Logan, Utah

    S. W. T. Batra & G. E. Bohart

Authors
  1. L. R. Batra
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  2. S. W. T. Batra
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  3. G. E. Bohart
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Additional information

Cooperative investigations of the Plant Sciences Research (L. R. Batra) and Entomology (G. E. Bohart) Divisions, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan, Utah.

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Batra, L.R., Batra, S.W.T. & Bohart, G.E. The mycoflora of domesticated and wild bees (Apoidea). Mycopathologia et Mycologia Applicata 49, 13–44 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02057445

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