Entry in species database
Appearance of colonies
CYA: 40-50 mm diam, plane, low and velutinous, usually quite dense; mycelium white; conidial production heavy, brown (Dark Blonde to Camel, 5-6D4); reverse pale to dull brown or yellow brown
MEA: 40-60 mm diam, similar to those on CYA or less dense
G25N: 18-22 mm diam, plane or irregularly wrinkled, low and sparse; conidial production light, pale brown; brown soluble pigment sometimes produced; reverse brown
Appearance of conidia
Conidial heads are compact, columnar and biseriate. Conidiophores are hyaline to slightly yellow and smooth walled. Conidiophores borne from surface hyphae, stipes 100-250 µm long, smooth walled; vesicles 15-20 µm diam, fertile over the upper hemisphere, with densely packed, short, narrow metulae and phialides, both 5-8 µm long; conidia spherical, very small, 1.8-2.5 µm diam, smooth walled, at maturity borne in long, well defined columns. Distinctive featuresVelutinous colonies formed at both 25°C and 37°C, uniformly brown, with no other colouration, and minute conidia borne in long columns make Aspergillus terreus a distinctive species
Temperature and growth
No growth at 5°C
Colonies at 37°C growing very rapidly, 50 mm or more diam, of similar appearance to those on CYA at 25°C
Sclerotia
Read more at
Electron micrographs of A. terreus conidia & conidial heads provided by Amaliya Stepanova, Head of Laboratory pathomorphology and cytology at Kashkin Research Institute, Russian Federation.
