Book Review

Insect-Fungal Associations

Fernando E. Vega & Meredith Blackwell, editors
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005
ISBN 0-19-516652-3

The majority of named species on the planet are insects (750,000 of about 1.5 million total, in all phyla). Fungi are pretty well known from just about every biome on the planet and have a knack for intertwining themselves (no pun intended) into the lives of countless other species. Despite these two facts, the interactions between insects and fungi have not been very well researched. I know from experience as the area has been of interest to me for many years now, the interactions between mushrooms and mushroom-eating flies-those nasty maggots that always seem to spoil your basket of boletes or chanterelles!

This brand-new book summarizes what is known in the field and provides good overviews from several experts. Although there is no section on mushroom-arthropod coevolution, all the well-studied areas are covered. Probably of most interest to the mycophiles (and likely best understood) are the sections on fungus-farming termites and ants. The chapter covering the latter is entitled "A Comparison of Agriculture in Humans and in Fungus-growing Ants." Other chapters elucidate the ecology of mycophagous bark beetles and their fungal partners (morel season just ended; think Dutch elm disease here), how plants benefit from chemical defenses produced by their fungal endophytes, and several chapters on fungi that are parasites of insects and other arthropods. As alluded to elsewhere in this issue, you can't hear the name Meredith Blackwell without thinking about the yeast symbionts of arthropods and this topic gets ample discussion in two chapters.

For anyone wishing to find out more on how insects and fungi get along (and sometimes don't get along) in the environment, this book is a great place to start. Although aimed at the research community, this book is certainly readable by anyone with a little background knowledge of modern fungal research. Besides, the stories are truly fascinating!

— Review by Britt Bunyard
— The Mycophile 46:4, Jul/Aug 2005