Influence of Conspecific Contact Upon Blood Sex Steroid Levels and the Dynamics of Ovarian Development in Female Red-Bellied Tilapia, Tilapia zillii

Associations between the golden metallic beetle, Buprestis aurulenta L., and wooddestroying fungi were explored with adult beetles collected from log decks. A variety of fungi were isolated from the beetle bodies by four methods. A total of 863 isolations were made from 59 females and 21 males. There was no significant difference between the microflora associated with male and female adult beetles. Hyphomycetes constituted 91.4% of all isolates. Zygomycetes and yeasts represented 5.8% of the total number of isolates. Basidiomycetes were infrequently isolated (2.8%), suggesting that this buprestid does not consistently vector decay fungi into woody debris.