Conidiobolus macrosporus (Entomophthorales), a mosquito pathogen in Central Brazil

A new fungal pathogen of Culicinae (Diptera: Culicidae) adults, Conidiobolus macrosporus (Entomophthorales: Ancylistaceae), was detected and isolated during a survey of mosquito pathogens close to the city of Aruana, Goias State, in December 2014. The morphological characteristics of C. macrosporus are presented, and reasons for some uncertainty about this identification are discussed. The pathogenicity and high virulence of this fungus for Aedes aegypti were confirmed in laboratory conditions. Mortality of adults exposed to conidia was observed within 24 h of exposure to the pathogen, and increased to 100% as quickly as 3 days after inoculation (with the highest conidial concentration tested, 8.3 × 104 conidia/cm2). Repeated attempts to obtain genomic sequence data failed despite confirmations that the DNA extraction methods were themselves successful.