Fungi attacking springtails, probably Dicyrtomina sp. (Collembola, Sminthuridae), were collected in north-western Germany.
Cadavers were fixed with rhizoids onto moist pieces of dead wood lying on the soil. Fifteen specimens were carefully dissected
and microscopically and genetically examined. The core data of Pandora batallata are as follows: The hyphal bodies measured
61.7–65.0 × 18.5 μm and contained on average 10-11 nuclei. The branched conidiophores produced mononucleate primary co-
nidia with an average size of 20.8–21.7 × 8.9–9.6 μm. The spiny brown, usually spherical zygospores measured on average 39.6 μm
excluding the spines. The long and strong cystidia had an enlarged rounded ending, which is represented by the epithet. Pandora
batallata sp. nov. differs from related species by host, morphology (long cystidia with the spoon-like ending) and sequence differ-
ences in the LSU rDNA. Two other fungi were also found. A single dead springtail was completely filled with spherical fungal
structures (diameter 9–11 μm) and a single adhering hypha. Two other dead springtails were filled with spherical structures re-
sembling entomophthoralean resting spores, although their diameter was only 10–12 μm. Both of these fungi were not further
examined but they are also considered as pathogenic to springtails.