4.4. Laboulbeniales hyperparasites
Laboulbeniales are an order of enigmatic microfungi that form
three-dimensional multicellular thalli instead of hyphae and are
associated with a living host for the entire duration of their life
cycle (Haelewaters et al., 2012). Hosts include a variety of
Arthropods: harvestmen and mites (subphylum Chelicerata: class
Arachnida); millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda); and numerous insect
lineages (Hexapoda: Insecta), such as ants, beetles, cockroaches and
termites, crickets, earwigs, flies, lice, thrips, and true bugs. Some of
the arthropod hosts of Laboulbeniales are parasites themselves, which
results in hyperparasitic associations. The study system that is
researched most in depth is that of Laboulbeniales associated with bat
flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae), which are bloodsucking
ectoparasites of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera).