A MICROSPORIDIAN PATHOGEN OF THE PREDATORY BEETLE RHIZOPHAGUS GRANDIS (COLEOPTERA: RHIZOPHAGIDAE)

A new Microsporidium sp. infects Rhizophagus grandis Gyllenhall, a beetle which preys on the bark beetle Dendroctonus micans Kugellan in Turkey. Mature spores are single, uninucleate, oval in shape (3.75 +/- 0.27 mu m in length by 2.47 +/- 0.13 mu m in width), with a subapically fixed polar filament. The polar filament is anisofilar, coiled in 7-8 normal and 3-4 reduced coils. Other characteristic features of the microsporidium are the four/five nuclear divisions to form 16/32 (commonly 16) spores, subpersistent sporophorous vesicles (pansporoblasts) remaining till formation of the endospore, and the vesicles dissolved with free mature spores. The polaroplast is divided into three zones: an amorphous zone, dense layers, and a lamellar-tubular area extending to the central part of the spore.