Abstract
Ophiocordyceps is entomopathogenic and the largest studied genus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. Many species in this genus have been reported from Thailand. The first new species introduced in this paper, Ophiocordycepsglobiceps, differs from other species based on its smaller perithecia, shorter asci and secondary ascospores and additionally, in parasitising fly species. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, SSU, ITS, TEF1α and RPB1 sequence data indicate that O.globiceps forms a distinct lineage within the genus Ophiocordyceps as a new species. The second new species, Ophiocordycepssporangifera, is distinguished from closely related species by infecting larvae of insects (Coleoptera, Elateridae) and by producing white to brown sporangia, longer secondary synnemata and shorter primary and secondary phialides. We introduce O.sporangifera based on its significant morphological differences from other similar species, even though phylogenetic distinction is not well-supported.
Highlights
The genus Ophiocordyceps was introduced by Petch (1931) to accommodate species which have different features of asci and ascospores from Cordyceps (Petch 1931)
We introduce two new species of Ophiocordyceps, which were found on larvae of insects (Lepidoptera, Cossidae) and adult Diptera
We introduce two new entomopathogenic species of Ophiocordyceps, one from Coleoptera (Elateridae) and the other from flies (Diptera)
Summary
The genus Ophiocordyceps was introduced by Petch (1931) to accommodate species which have different features of asci and ascospores from Cordyceps (Petch 1931). Sung et al (2007a) established the new family Ophiocordycipitaceae in Hypocreales (Sordariomycetes) and revised Ophiocordyceps as the type genus based on phylogenetic analyses. This is followed in the Outline of Ascomycetes (Wijayawardene et al 2018). The main characters of the sexual morph species of Ophiocordyceps are fibrous, hard, pliant-to-wiry, dark stromata with superficial to immersed perithecia (Sung et al 2007a, Ban et al 2015). The hosts of species in Ophiocordyceps are larval lepidopterans and coleopterans, adult hymenopterans, hemipterans, dipterans, orthopterans or dragonflies (Odonata) and, in few cases, spiders (Kobayasi 1941, Mains 1958, Sung et al 2007a, Ban et al 2015). Ophiocordyceps included 233 species (Index Fungorum, June 2018) with a worldwide diversity (Sung et al 2007a, Ban et al 2015, Spatafora et al 2015, Shrestha et al 2017)
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