Muscardine

Muscardine is a disease of insects. It is caused by many species of entomopathogenic fungus. Many muscardines are known for affecting silkworms.^[1] Muscardine may also be called calcino.^[2]

While studying muscardine in silkworms in the 19th century, Agostino Bassi found that the causal agent was a fungus. This was the first demonstration of the germ theory of disease, the first time a microorganism was recognized as an animal pathogen.^[3] There are many types of muscardine. They are often named for the color of the conidial layer each fungus leaves on its host.^[1]