Metarhizium pinghaense is a species of entomopathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae. Some authorities have it as a synonym of Metarhizium anisopliae. DNA studies show that it is a good species,[2] with strong bootstrap support.[3]
| Metarhizium pinghaense | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Sordariomycetes |
| Order: | Hypocreales |
| Family: | Clavicipitaceae |
| Genus: | Metarhizium |
| Species: | M. pinghaense |
| Binomial name | |
| Metarhizium pinghaense Q.T. Chen & H.L. Guo[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Researchers in Burkina Faso have created a strain of M. metarhizium genetically engineered to produce the venom of an Australian funnel-web spider; exposure to the fungus caused populations of anopheles mosquitoes, which spread malaria, to crash by 99% in a controlled trial.[4]