Host-pathogen specificity and factors that promote protozoan disease epizootics in beneficial arthropods

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Beneficial insects and other arthropods are of great ecological importance because they provide a form of natural pest control, a dynamic process that is responsible for the regulation of pest arthropod populations in nature. Microsporidia (spore-forming protozoan pathogens) infect a wide range of beneficial arthropods, including predaceous lady beetles that are often used for aphid control in agroecosystems. Microsporidia are known to cause chronic, debilitating disease that reduces host fitness; therefore, these pathogens may adversely affect the viability of beneficial arthropods in agroecosystems and in nature.