Hesperomyces virescens (Fungi, Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) attacking Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) in its native range

This study intended to find data on obligate ec- toparasitic Laboulbeniales (Fungi, Ascomycota) on ChineseHarmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae). After having screened over four thousand dried specimens of H. axyridisand close relatives, we present the first (historical) record of Chinese H. axyridis infected with Hesperomyces virescens. We suggest that H. virescens is a historically globally dis- tributed species and hypothesize that (native) infection was lost when H. axyridis was introduced in North America.