The taxonomy of fungi is not always clear, so taxonomic studies may be necessary. Specimens of potential biological control agents should be lodged with a reliable herbarium for identification, e.g. CABI Biosciences (formerly the International Institute of Mycology) in the United Kingdom.

Many fungi are pleomorphic, that is a species may produce several spore types which may be present at different times. The spores can be the result of sexual or asexual propagation. The state characterised by sexual spores is called the perfect state or teleomorph, and the state characterised by the asexual spores is called the imperfect state or anamorph. Under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, it is permissible to treat each of the states as separate species. However, once it has been established that both states are of the one fungus, the name accepted for the perfect state (teleomorph) takes precedence (Hawksworth et al. 1983).

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