A review of the ectoparasitic fungi that infect termites

Entomopathogenic fungi are an intriguing and diverse group of organisms adapted to live amongst Earth’s most diverse creatures ; the insects.This association occurs across all members of the class “Insecta”, with some of the most unique associations occurring between fungi, and the oldest living eusocial organisms; the termites .These organisms have been at odds for millions of years, and despite various counter-evolutionary processes that have occured over past 150 million years, termites continue to be parasitized by fungi; albeit in low percentages. At present, there are app. 25 species of ectoparasitic fungi that infect termites, many of which are not monophyletic. Most genera are reported to be geographically restricted, while others appear to be distributed worldwide alongside their termite hosts.Termitophilous fungi serve an excellent model organisms for understanding coevolution ,in that they rarely kill the host they invade and have succeeded in the difficult task of infiltrating an ecological fortress of social immunity; the termite colony.. In this review we synthesize 120+ years of reports and studies on ectoparasitic fungi and their termite host, to come to a modern understanding of all ectoparasitic fungi found on termites, focusing on the terminology, taxonomy, relationships, biogeography, and interaction with their hosts.We provide a species checklist, as well as access to morphological descriptions and illustrations and are the first to synthesize all known molecular information to create a modern phylogeny for this group.