Laboulbenia formicarum (ascomycota, laboulbeniales) reaches the Mediterranean

Laboulbeniales (Fungi) are an infrequent find when growing on ants. We report a new host (Lasius neglectus) for Laboulbenia formicarum, which is also a new mycological addition for continental Europe. Heavily infested ants were foraging normally on Tamarix gallica (salt cedar trees) planted along a seaside walk in North-East Spain. The infestation is spatially much extended (540 m), probably because of the supercolonial social structure of the host ant. Workers of eleven additional ant species from the same locality were collected but none were infested.