Termitomyces was described by Heim (1942a) for a group of termitophilous agarics found in central Africa. The Tribe Termitomceteae (Jfilich) Singer has been placed within Tricholomataceae Heim ex Pouzar by Singer (1986), close to the Tribe Lyophylleae Kiihner ex Bas, based upon the presence of siderophilous granulation detected in the basidia. Jiilich (1981) raised the group to family level, Termitomycetaceae, and placed it alongside Amanitaceae Roze and Torrendiaceae Jiilich in the Amanitales Jiilich. Pegler (1986) preferred to accommodate the genus Termitomyces Heim within Pluteaceae Kotl. & Pouzar, largely on the basis of the pluteoid habit, with densely crowded, free lamellae which rapidly decay, the pink spore deposit, the type of hymenial cystidia, and the basidiospores which often develop a wall-structure with two teguments and the presence of an open-pore hilum (Pegler & Young, 1971). The main difference from other genera in Pluteaceae lies in a hymenophoral trama with divergent, rather than convergent, hyphae in the basidiomatal primordia, together with the termitophilous association. Singer (1945) separated Termitomyces microcarpus (Berk. & Broome) Heim in order to propose a new genus, Podabrella, on the basis of the epigeous habit and lack of pseudorhizal development, and to which he added some neotropical, non-termitophilous species. Zang (1981) examined some collections from Yunnan Province, P. R. China, and proposed a new genus, Sinotermitomyces, which may be separated from Termitomyces as follows: