Introduction
Unlike the per os infection mechanism of entomopathogenic
bacteria and viruses needed to cause disease, the ascomycete
fungus Beauveria bassiana (Bals.-Criv.) Vuill. sensu lato
(Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) as well as other filamentous
entomopathogenic fungi have uniquely evolved to infect their
arthropod hosts by direct (per cutaneous) penetration of the
cuticle followed by multiplication in the hemocoel (Feng et al.