4.4. Laboulbeniales hyperparasites

Laboulbeniales are an order of enigmatic microfungi that form three-dimensional multicellular thalli instead of hyphae and are associated with a living host for the entire duration of their life cycle (Haelewaters et al., 2012). Hosts include a variety of Arthropods: harvestmen and mites (subphylum Chelicerata: class Arachnida); millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda); and numerous insect lineages (Hexapoda: Insecta), such as ants, beetles, cockroaches and termites, crickets, earwigs, flies, lice, thrips, and true bugs. Some of the arthropod hosts of Laboulbeniales are parasites themselves, which results in hyperparasitic associations. The study system that is researched most in depth is that of Laboulbeniales associated with bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae), which are bloodsucking ectoparasites of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera).