Insects visit Fusarium xyrophilum pseudoflowers on the host Xyris surinamensis (Xyridaceae) and carry fungal DNA on their bodies

The fungus Fusarium xyrophilum produces flower-like structures (i.e., pseudoflowers) that were recently discovered on yellow-eyed grasses (Xyris spp.) in Guyana. It is unknown whether these pseudoflowers, which are composed entirely of fungal tissue, are true mimics that attract insects as a means of fungal dispersal. We evaluated the potential of F. xyrophilum to affect insect visitation patterns to flowers and pseudoflowers by 1) documenting insect visitation to X. surinamensis in Guyana, 2) measuring the presence of F. xyrophilum DNA on insects, and 3) evaluating fluorescence and volatile production on flowers and pseudoflowers. We report for the first time Vespidae, Formicidae, Salticidae, Acrididae, and Tetrigidae visiting Xyris. Diverse insects, including Conocephalini spp. (meadow katydids; Tettigoniidae), Camponotus spp. (carpenter ants; Formicidae), and a Geometridae sp. (geometer moths) were found to visit flowers and pseudoflowers. Fusarium xyrophilum DNA was detected on 3/12 (25%) of captured insect bodies using conventional and quantitative PCR. Volatiles produced in the field by pseudoflowers and flowers were similar, except for the presence of a sesquiterpene, putatively identified here as -gurjunene, which was detected both in F. xyrophilum pure cultures and field-collected pseudoflower samples, but not from flowers. The production of this sesquiterpene by F. xyrophilum and the fluorescence of X. surinamensis peduncles represent potential signals involved in insect attraction for this system. These observations, along with the overlap in insect visitors of flowers and pseudoflowers and the detection of F. xyrophilum DNA on insect bodies, are consistent with insect visitors being vectors of Xyris pollen and F. xyrophilum propagules between host plants.