Mycophagy: A Global Review of Interactions between Invertebrates and Fungi

Fungi are diverse organisms that occupy important niches in natural settings and agricultural settings, acting as decomposers, mutualists, and parasites and pathogens. Interactions between fungi and other organisms, specifically invertebrates, are understudied. Their numbers are also severely underestimated. Invertebrates exist in many of the same spaces as fungi and are known to engage in fungal feeding or mycophagy. This review aims to provide a comprehensive, global view of mycophagy in invertebrates to bring attention to areas that need more research, by prospecting the existing literature. Separate searches on the Web of Science were performed using the terms mycophagy and fungivore. Invertebrate species and corresponding fungal species were extracted from the articles retrieved, whether the research was field- or laboratory-based, and the location of the observation if field-based. Articles were excluded if they did not list at least a genus identification for both the fungi and invertebrates. The search yielded 209 papers covering seven fungal phyla and 19 invertebrate orders. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota are the most represented fungal phyla whereas Coleoptera and Diptera make up most of the invertebrate observations. Most field-based observations originated from North America and Europe. Research on invertebrate mycophagy is lacking in some important fungal phyla, invertebrate orders, and geographic regions.

Automated summary

Fungi play important roles as decomposers, mutualists, and parasites/pathogens in natural and agricultural settings, but there is a lack of research on their interactions with invertebrates. This review aims to provide a comprehensive view of mycophagy in invertebrates by prospecting the existing literature. The search yielded 209 papers covering fungal phyla and invertebrate orders, with field-based observations originating mainly from North America and Europe. Research on invertebrate mycophagy is lacking in some important fungal phyla, invertebrate orders, and geographic regions.