Entomophthoralean fungi with pathogenic abilities to infect social insects are rare. Here, we describe a fungus isolated from leafcutter ants. Morphologically, the fungus has spherical primary conidia and two types of microconidia: one with the same shape as the primary conidia and another with an elliptical to half-moon shape. The fungus also produces villose conidia known previously only from Conidiobolus coronatus. A multilocus phylogenetic analysis was performed with nuc rDNA sequences from three regions (28S, 18S, and internal transcribed spacer [ITS]). Our isolates are distinguished as a new species, described here as Conidiobolus lunulus, and is more closely related to C. brefeldianus than to C. coronatus, despite the greater morphological resemblance to the latter. Morphological differences, unique phylogenetic placement, and isolation from an altogether new host support this finding. This is the first record of an entomophthoralean species isolated from leafcutter ants.

中文翻译：

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Conidiobolus lunulus，一种从切叶蚁中分离出来的昆虫新物种

具有感染群居昆虫的致病能力的虫媒真菌很少见。在这里，我们描述了一种从切叶蚁中分离出来的真菌。在形态上，该真菌具有球形初级分生孢子和两种小分生孢子：一种与初级分生孢子形状相同，另一种为椭圆形至半月形。该真菌还产生以前仅从 Conidiobolus coronatus 已知的绒毛分生孢子。使用来自三个区域（28S、18S 和内部转录间隔区 [ITS]）的 nuc rDNA 序列进行多位点系统发育分析。我们的分离株被区分为一个新物种，这里描述为 Conidiobolus lunulus，与 C. brefeldianus 的关系比与 C. coronatus 的关系更密切，尽管与后者有更大的形态相似性。形态差异，独特的系统发育位置，并且与全新宿主的隔离支持了这一发现。这是从切叶蚁中分离出的虫害物种的第一个记录。