Smittium

Smittium is a genus of fungi in the order Harpellales. It is the largest genus in the order. As of 2013, there were 81 described species. Many of these have been formally described only recently; in 1998 there were just 46. Several have been transferred to Smittium from other genera, such as Orphella, Rubetella, Genistella, and Typhella. In general, the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, but some species are limited to small regions. Like most other fungi of the Harpellales, these are found in the guts of insect larvae. Smittium are most often resident in the larvae of aquatic flies. The genus was named for Smittia, the midge from which it was first isolated. The fungi can be found in black flies, mosquitoes, solitary midges, and non-biting and biting midges. The relationship between the fungus and the fly is usually commensal. Sometimes it is more mutualistic, such as when the fungus synthesizes vitamins or other nutrients for the host. One species, though, Smittium morbosum, can ......read more on Wikipedia.