The incompatibility with A. benhamiae of all 13 of the erinacei isolates indicates that this member of the 'mentagrophytes' complex is a distinct and separate species, even though it resembles T. mentagrophytes.
We did not produce a perfect state among the isolates of var. erinacei. This is not surprising since all of them corresponded to the A mating type when checked by Stockdale's (1968) method against her A. simii test strains.

T. mentagrophytes var. erinacei differs from other varieties of T. mentagrophytes in having more elongate microconidia, smaller macroconidia, and intermediates between the 2. The optimum temperature of growth (35°C.) and inhibition of growth at pH 4.0 also differentiate it from other T. mentagrophytes varieties. Because of these differences and because of its incompatibility with the A. benhamiae test strains, we propose the following change in status and nomenclature:

Trichophyton erinacei (Smith & Marples) comb. nov.

=Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. erinacei Smith & Marples 1963, Sabouraudia, 3, 9.