Some Records of Termitomyces from Old World Rainforests

Abstract

Summary. Eleven species of Termitomyces are enumerated from the rainforests of the Old World, seven from Malaysia and seven from the Republic of Cameroon, with three species common to both. Lepiota discipes Henn. is synonymised with Termitomyces letestui and a second record is made of Tricholoma termitomycoides Corner, which resembles Termitomyces heimii Natarajan. During collecting trips for ectomycorrhizal fungi to Greater Templar Park, Selangor, and Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negri Sembilan, both in Malaysia, and Korup Rainforest National Park, Republic of Cameroon, as part of three separate interdisciplinary studies, several populations of the genus Termitomyces were also collected. This account records these finds and in so doing expands the known distribution of the species considered. Fresh collections were made in the policies of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) at Kepong, an area of 1300 hectares which forms part of the Greater Templar Park. It was formerly agricultural land, in some places with tin mining and can now be classified as a lowland rainforest. It is of a secondary nature especially as it was artificially planted in many areas with various dipterocarps and other specimen trees. The history of the plantings dates back to 1929 and is well documented. Further collections were made in logged and unlogged areas at Pasoh, an outstation of FRIM. This area is a mixed lowland dipterocarp forest dominated by Shorea leprosula Miq. and has been the subject of intensive study for over fifty years. The Korup collections were made in an area of unlogged forest dominated by caesalpinioid legumes. The agaric genus Termitomyces R. Heim has long been a curiosity to not only mycologists but botanists and even entomologists. The relationship between certain termites and fungi was first described in 1779 from the East Indies by Johann Konig, the German naturalist (Collins 1982). Termitomyces species are well known as a food source and are considered delicacies, with many species on sale in markets and at roadsides in the old world tropics. Termites are the most important group of invertebrate decomposers in the tropics and it is estimated that they are responsible for the removal of approximately 28% of all leaf litter in the rainforests of Malaysia (Collins 1982). Members of the family Termitidae, subfamily Macrotermitinae (the higher termites), have an association with members of the genus Termitomyces. These termites build