Three New Records of Penicillium Species Isolated from Insect Specimens in Korea

Abstract Three Penicillium species have been isolated from insect specimens in Korea; Penicillium sp., P. steckii, and P. polonicum. Penicillium sp. (KNU12-3-2) was isolated from Lixus imperessiventris, while P. polonicum (KNU12-1-8) and Penicillium steckii (KNU12-2-9) were isolated from Muljarus japonicas and Meloe proscarabaeus, respectively. The identification was based on the morphological characteristics of the fungi and in internal transcribed spacer analysis. This is the first report on the isolation of these three species of Penicillium from insects in Korea. Keywords Lixus imperessiventris, Meloe proscarabaeus, Muljarus japonicas, Penicillium spp. Penicillium species are usually regarded as soil fungi [1], but many species inhabit well-defined habitats other than soil. They function as decomposers of dead materials and are especially important postharvest, where they spoil food commodities [2-5]. Some reports have shown that Penicillium species can be isolated from insects and their body parts [6]. In this study, we report three species of Penicillium isolated from three different insect species in Korea. Collection of insects and fungal isolation. Insect samples were collected from preserved specimens of th