be a strategy by the fungi to use the beetles to

transmit their spores, in a more directed way than

releasing them into the wind, since the beetle and

the fungus both require the same resource. It may

be a complex symbiosis, where the fungi may

make the wood more digestible for the beetle

larvae, while the beetles provide access and break

up the wood, increasing its internal surface area

with their tunneling.

Some fungi have turned the tables on beetles

and become parasites. Fungi of the order

Laboulbeniales resemble bristles or scales that

grow on the exoskeleton. They are transmitted

from adult to adult, so they are generally found

only in beetle families with long-lived adults that

routinely contact adults of the next generation.

These include Carabidae, Dytiscidae, and

Coccinellidae. Ladybugs often have small patches

of these fungi on their brightly colored elytra.

opposite | Gymnocychramus

bicolor (Nitidulidae) This

sap-feeding beetle helps to

spread the spores of the bridal

veil stinkhorn mushroom in

Australia.

below | Cypherotylus tigrinus

(Erotylidae) A pleasing

fungus beetle grazes on

a crust of white fungus

from a tree in Brazil’s

Atlantic Forest.

left | Diaperis boleti

(Tenebrionidae) A cluster

of darkling beetles on the

underside of a polypore tree

fungus in a Polish forest.