Fungi associated with Platypus cylindrus (Col., Platypodidae)in a cork oak stand of north western Algeria: the case of harmful fungi

Abstract: The study of the mycoflora associated with Platypus cylindrus in a cork oak forest ofthe coastal north-western Algeria let to isolate 42 fungal species from intestinal contents of oldlarvae and both sexesof the insect, as well as mycangia and wood galleries; these fungi include17 species potentially pathogenic to plants. Their identification was based on morphological andmolecular (rDNA) characteristics. Some of them are already known to be pathogenic to cork oak:Ophiostoma quercus, O. stenoceras, Biscogniauxia mediterranea and Botryosphaeria corticola.Others as Phaeoacremonium inflatipes, Ulocladium botrytis and Gnomonia petiolorum havealready proved their pathogenicity on other plants. Among the isolated fungi, some are for thefirst time recorded in association with this insect.