Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with the spruce bark beetle Ips typographus f. aponicus in Japan

Fungi were isolated from the beetles, Ips typographus f. japonicus and Yezo spruce (Picea jezoensis) trees infested with the beetles in Hokkaido, Japan. Nine species of ophiostomatoid fungi including one new species were identified. They were Ceratocystiopsis minuta, Ceratocystis polonica, Ophiostoma ainoae, O. bicolor, O. cucullatum, O. europhioides, O. penicillatum, O. piceae, and a new species described here as O. japonicum. Based on frequencies of occurrence, O. ainoae, O. bicolor, O. penicillatum, and O. piceae were regarded as dominant associates of I. typographus japonicus, and C. minuta, C. polonica, O. europhinoides, and O. japonicum were subdominant. The species of ophiostomatoid fungi associated with I. typographus japonicus in Japan are almost identical to those associated with I. typographus infesting Norway spruce (P. abies) in Europe. This study improves our knowledge of the biogeography of the ophiostomatoid fungi and the insects with which they are associated.