been unexplored. As such, the extent of Zoophthora species’ contributions in controlling insect populations in natural ecosystems is poorly understood. Interactions outside of Arthropods While ecological interactions outside of arthropod hosts have been explored in a handful of entomopathogenic fungal taxa, the roles of Zoophthora species in soils, plants, and other environments need to be explored. Methods for isolation and identification Isolation While approaches to isolating pure cultures of Zoophthora and other entomopathogenic fungal taxa vary, two general approaches are widely used: direct and indirect sampling. Direct sampling: In direct sampling methods, fungal tissue (generally as conidia, and sometimes as hyphal bodies or protoplasts) is removed from infected arthropod hosts. This tissue is generally subcultured on a nutrient-rich medium, such as Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar or Potato Dextrose Agar. These media are frequently supplemented with egg yolk. Indirect sampling: In indirect sampling methods, fungal tissue is isolated from indirect sources, such as soil or plant material. Approaches to indirect sampling vary, but many methods use whole insects or insect tissues as “bait”. When fungal propagules from an environmental sample infect the “bait” organism, the infected insect can be surface-sterilized, placed in conditions favorable for fungal growth, and monitored for the emergence of fungal propagules from host parts. In some cases, indirect sampling methods can be used when using direct sampling poses logistical concerns. In these instances, indirect sampling approaches can be used to prompt fungal tissue to spread from host tissue to another substrate, where propagules (e.g., conidia) can be isolated more easily. Identification Historically, the nuclear status and morphology of the cells comprising conidiophores in Zoophthora have been used to distinguish this taxon from other genera. Species-level distinctions are difficult to make between members of this genus using morphology alone, but the presence/absence and morphology of the characters listed below have been used to distinguish Zoophthora species with some success: Conidiophores Primary conidia Secondary conidia Resting spores Hyphal bodies Rhizoids Nuclei With the advent of the use of molecular markers in inferring phylogenetic information, it is likely that estimates of species-level diversity in Zoophthora will become clearer as more research is conducted. Especially promising are approaches to species identification that do not require the isolation and cultivation of fungal tissue from the environment, such as pyrosequencing. Such cultivation-independent approaches to species identification are advantageous because they allow for the identification of taxa that are difficult or impossible to cultivate in