Troglomyces twitteri Discovered on Twitter

A new species has just been discovered — on Twitter. It’s a type of parasitic fungus, which researchers have described in the journal MycoKeys. Its name: Troglomyces twitteri.

Key Features

• Troglomyces twitteri belongs to an order called Laboulbeniales — tiny fungal parasites that attack insects and millipedes and look like tiny larvae.
• These fungi live on the outside of host organisms; in this case, on the reproductive organs of millipedes.
• Laboulbeniales were first discovered in the middle of the 19th century. Their taxonomic position was identified in detailed studies performed by Roland Thaxter at Harvard University, beginning in 1890.
• Thaxter described approximately 1260 ....