Lecanicillium aphanocladii – a new species to the mycoflora of Lithuania and a new pathogen of tree leaves mining insects

Popular park and city trees horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum L. and small-leaved linden, Tilia cordata Miller suffer from damages of leaf mining moths, Cameraria ohridella Deschka Dimic 1968 and Lithocolletis issikii Kumata 1825 (= Phyllonorycter issikii Humber 1822 (both Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae), respectively. In 2010–2011, fungi causing moth caterpillar mortality under field conditions were investigated in Vilniu s city, Lithuania. Statistical analyses showed high recovery percentage (30.36 % and 31.92 % from C. ohridella and L. issikii caterpillar cadavers, respectively) of a new fungus, which was thereafter identified as Lecanicillium aphanocladii Zare W. Gams 2001 based on a morphological characteristics and ITS rDNR sequence, which showed 99 % identity with Aphanocladium aranearum (Petch) W. Gams 1971 GenBank accessions No. AF455489 and AF455405 of ribosomal RNA gene (now renamed as L. aphanockladii).