Nosema costelytraen.sp., a microsporidan parasite of larvae ofCostelytra zèalandica(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in New Zealand

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Abstract
Nosema costelytrae n.sp. is described from larvae of Costelytra zealandica collected at Maihihi, Takapau, and Te Awamutu, North Island, and Methven and Rakaia, South Island. The protozoan occurs in the fat body of 2nd‐ and 3rd‐instar grubs. Disease incidence appears to be relatively low; the degree of infection in a larva may be light to severe. When apparent in older larvae, symptoms are stunted growth and alteration of the normally white fat coloration to tannish‐grey. Marked differences in stages of the life cycle, in particular the much smaller size of the ovular spores, distinguish this species from N. takapauensis, with which it has been found associated.