Geographical distribution and host range of entomophthorales infecting thegreen spruce aphid Elatobium abietinum walker in Iceland

Entomophthora planchoniana and Neozygites fresenii caused infection in popu lations of the green spruce aphid, Elatobium abietinum, in Iceland. On this aphid species En. planchoniana was exclusively found in the western part o f Iceland, while N. fresenii was exclusively found in the eastern part of I celand. This discrete and nearly nonoverlapping geographical distribution c orrelates with the distribution of two different populations of El. abietin um found in Iceland. On other aphid species N. fresenii, En. planchoniana, Pandora neoaphidis, and Conidiobolus obscurus were documented throughout th e country. Transmission experiments showed that Pa. neoaphidis and En. plan choniana could infect the eastern population of El. abietinum, although the y have never been found on this population in nature. This strongly indicat es that there is little or no interaction among El. abietinum, other aphids , and their respective entomophthoralean fungi in the field. Furthermore, t his study is the first to record epizootics caused by N. fresenii and En. p lanchoniana in the subpolar region. (C) 2001 Academic Press.