Ophiocordyceps alboperitheciata H. Yu & Q. Fan, sp. nov.2021
MycoBank MB 834082
Holotype: China. Yunnan Province: Kunming City, the Wild Duck Forest Park, at 25°13′N, 102°87′E, alt. 2100 m, on a larva of Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) buried in fallen leaves, 12 August 2018, Hong Yu (holotype, YHH 16755; ex-holotype living culture, YFCC 7203).
Morphological description
Sexual morph：Stromata arising in pairs from the larva of Noctuidae buried in fallen leaves, cylin[1]drical, flexible, light brown to dark brown, unbranched, gradually tapering toward the apex, 69–71 X 0.6–1.2 mm, with a sterile tip, remaining unchanged in 3% KOH. Stipes cylindrical, smooth, dark brown, 0.6–1.2 mm wide. Fertile parts clavate, pale brown, covered by a spinous surface, reaching up to 4.1–4.5 X 0.8–1.4 mm. Perithecia superficial, subtranslucent, scattered or crowded, nearly ovoid, white to pale brown, exhibiting an unequal distribu[1]tion on the middle of the stromata, covering densely the lower part and aggregating loosely at the upper of stromata, arranged in a disordered manner, 408–549 X 233–321 mm. Asci hyaline, cylindrical, eight-spores, 144–246 3.5–4.7 lm, with a hemi[1]spheric apical cap of 3.2–4.2 X 2.3–2.5 mm. Ascospores hyaline, cylindrical, multiseptate, 0.5–0.6 mm diameter, with septa of 1.1–1.3 mm long. Part-spores were not examined.
Asexual morphs: Colonies on PDA growing very slowly, exhibiting 3.0–3.6 cm diameter in 21 days at 25 °C, fan split, dark brown at the centrum, and white at the edge. Reverse dark brown. Hyphae hya[1]line, branched, septate, smooth-walled, 1.37–2.05 lm wide. Conidiogenous cells and conidia were not detected.
Habitat: : Buried in fallen leaves.
Distribution: The Wild Duck Lake Forest Park, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China.
GenBank Accession: nrLSU MT222278; tef1-a MT222279; rpb1 MT222280; rpb2 MT222281.
Reference: Fan, Q. , Wang, Y. B. , Zhang, G. D. , Tang, D. X. , & Yu, H. . (2021). Multigene phylogeny and morphology of ophiocordyceps alboperitheciata sp. nov. a new entomopathogenic fungus attacking lepidopteran larva from yunnan, china. Mycobiology.
Morphological characteristics of Ophiocordyceps alboperitheciata. (a, b) Stromata on a larva of Noctuidae; (c) Fertile part; (d) Sterile tip; (e–g) Perithecia; (h–j, l) Asci; (k) Ascospores; (m) Clony on PDA. Scale bars: a, b = 1 cm; c =600 lm; d = 1 mm; e–f = 100 lm; g–j = 50 lm; k, l = 20 lm; m = 1 cm.
