Abstract
BackgroundA number of Xylaria species are exclusively associated with nests of macrotermitine termites. A nesting site of Odontotermes formosanus in eastern Taiwan, which is the only macrotermitine termite known on the island, had been inundated during the raining season of 2010, and hundreds of Xylaria stromata emerged from it thereafter. A thorough examination of these stromata showed that they represent a mixture of different species.ResultsFive Xylaria species were identified from the stromata collected from the nesting site, including two undescribed species, which are newly described as X. insolita and X. subescharoidea herein, and three known species X. brunneovinosa, X. escharoidea, and X. furcata.ConclusionTotally, there are 28 Xylaria species growing on termite nests or ground in the world. Although O. formosanus is the only macrotermitine species known in Taiwan, the Xylaria diversity associated with its nests is fairly high; the species number has reached 12 with X. furcata, X. insolita, and X. subescharoidea added to the Taiwan mycobiota.
Highlights
A number of Xylaria species are exclusively associated with nests of macrotermitine termites
Xylaria diversity emerging from a macrotermitine termite nesting site has poorly been documented, and we take the opportunity to comment on the Xylaria species found at the Hua-lien termite nesting site
Most of the stromata were of X. brunneovinosa and X. escharoidea, and only 14 stromata of X. insolita, nine of X. subescharoidea, and two of X. furcata were found
Summary
A number of Xylaria species are exclusively associated with nests of macrotermitine termites. A nesting site of Odontotermes formosanus in eastern Taiwan, which is the only macrotermitine termite known on the island, had been inundated during the raining season of 2010, and hundreds of Xylaria stromata emerged from it thereafter. In 2010 we conducted a survey on Xylaria species at a backyard of a residence in Hua-lien located in eastern Taiwan, where a nesting site of O. formosanus had previously been inundated following a heavy rain, and. We describe the two undescribed species as new, i.e., X. insolita and X. subescharoidea. Their ITS, β-tubulin, RPB2, and α-actin were sequenced and analyzed in the context of the dataset mainly from Hsieh et al (2010) to infer its phylogenetic relationships within Xylaria. Xylaria diversity emerging from a macrotermitine termite nesting site has poorly been documented, and we take the opportunity to comment on the Xylaria species found at the Hua-lien termite nesting site
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