Ophiocordyceps neonutans R. Friedrich, B. Shrestha & Drechsler-Santos, 2018

Friedrich, Raquel C. S., Shrestha, Bhushan, Salvador-Montoya, Carlos A., Tomé, Luiz M. R., Reck, Mateus A., Góes-Neto, Aristóteles & Drechsler-Santos, Elisandro R., 2018, Ophiocordyceps neonutans sp. nov., a new neotropical species from O. nutans complex (Ophiocordycipitaceae, Ascomycota), Phytotaxa 344 (3), pp. 215-227 : 219-220

Ophiocordyceps neonutans R. Friedrich, B. Shrestha & Drechsler-Santos , sp. nov.

( Figs. 3 , 4 )

Mycobank:— MB819384

Type:— BRAZIL. Santa Catarina: Florianópolis, Parque Estadual da Serra do Tabuleiro, Naufragados, 10 January 2014, Friedrich KEL113 (holotype FLOR 57336!).

Diagnose:— Ophiocordyceps neonutans is morphologically similar to O. nutans , however is more robust.

Etymology:— Referring to the Neotropical locality of the new species and its morphological similarity to O. nutans .

Stromata solitary, rarely two, simple or branched (32–170 × 1–2 mm). Stipe filiform, erect or somewhat curved, black (23–151 × 1 mm), becoming orange to orange reddish (47/48) towards the uppermost part of the stipe in immature condition and similar to head in color at maturity, pale yellow (9/8) when dry. Fertile head apical, well delimited (5–19 × 0.9–2 mm), cylindrical, oblong to fusiform, orange punctate with brown (12) ostioles of perithecia. Perithecia crowded, obliquely vertical in the head, completely immersed, piriform, always with a long curved neck (550–1200 × 130–360 mm). Asci 8-spored, cylindrical, hyaline (220–900 × 3–8 μm), with a prominent cap. Ascospores parallel, smooth, filiform, almost as long as the asci; hyaline, multiseptate, easily fragmenting into 64 part-spores; part-spores cylindrical (6–15 × 1.2–3 μm), or slightly barrel-shaped. Mycelia inside insect body is slightly pink with a cork appearance. Spore mass is white.

Host and distribution: —On adult stinkbugs belonging to subfamilies Edessinae , Discocephalinae and Pentatominae of Pentatomidae ( Hemiptera ). Mature specimens were mostly collected from November to April. They were recorded for the Cerrado (State of Mato Grosso) and Atlantic forest (States of Santa Catarina, Paraná and São Paulo) domains of Brazil.Although the specimens were collected in different ecosystems, they were always found near rivers or in areas with high mean annual rainfall.

Remarks: — Ophiocordyceps neonutans is frequently collected as a single, black stroma, with a cylindrical orange head in hosts buried in the upper 1–2 cm of the leaf litter. The arrangement of ascospores within the asci is parallel for the entire length of the asci, indicating that the ascospores are approximately of the same length as asci. The anamorph could occur in the same stroma, right beneath the fertile head in the orange part of the stipe, or in another stroma ( Fig. 3A, 3B ). Ophiocordyceps neonutans is very similar to O. nutans from Asia (Type I and Type II); however, it slightly differs in stromata colour and shape, perithecia shape and width ( Fig. 4 ), host species and geographic distribution. Ophiocordyceps neonutans is more similar in micromorphology to O. nutans Type I ( Sasaki et al. 2012), but in macromorphology, it is more similar to O nutans Type II. It is worth noting that the hosts of O. nutans Type II are more similar as those of O. neonutans (Pentatomoidea) . Ophiocordyceps neonutans appears to be larger and more robust than the Asian specimens. Additionally, O. neonutans has a more crowded stroma with perithecia, the fertile orange region is cylindrical to fusoid, never ovoid, and parasitizes different subfamilies of Pentatomidae . Ophiocordyceps neonutans is also morphologically similar to O. tricentri that has been recorded only from Asia, parasitizing spittlebugs ( Hemiptera ), and with different color of stipe, shapes of perithecia and ascospores ( Shrestha & Sung 2005, Shrestha 2011). Ophiocordyceps neonutans also has similar characteristics to few other species in the “sphecocephala ” clade, however all species of that clade are parasites of different host species ( Stensrud et al. 2005).

Other examined specimens: — BRAZIL. Santa Catarina: Florianópolis, Costão do Santinho, Trilha das aranhas, 23 September 2013, Friedrich KEL56 ( FLOR57331 !) ; ibidem, 27 January 2014, Friedrich KEL129 ( FLOR57313 !) ; ibidem, Morro da lagoa da Conceição, 02 December 2013, Friedrich KEL60 ( FLOR57387 !) ; ibidem, Naufragados , 28 October 2012, Urrea-Valencia SURREA185 ( FLOR51012 !) ; ibidem, Naufragados , 30 April 2013, Mafalda-Freire FMF101 ( FLOR57401 !) ; ibidem, Naufragados , 28 October 2013, Furtado ANMF349 ( FLOR57404 !) ; ibidem, Naufragados , 10 January 2014, Friedrich KEL105 ( FLOR57332 !) ; ibidem, Unidade de Conservação Ambiental Desterro , 20 December 2011, Jaeger MJ 103A ( FLOR57379 !) ; ibidem, Unidade de Conservação Ambiental Desterro , 09 November 2013, Friedrich KEL46 ( FLOR57389 !) ; sine datum, 2013, Mafalda-Freire FMF50 ( FLOR57399 !) ; Joinville, Vale do Piraí , 25 January 2014, Linhares FTF109 ( FLOR57396 !) ; Joaçaba , 06 August 2012, Urrea-Valencia SURREA160 ( FLOR50987 !) ; Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, Trilha da cachoeira, 30 October 2012, Magnago ACM448 ( FLOR57405 !) ; ibidem, Trilha da cachoeira, 02 February 2013 ; Friedrich KEL1 ( FLOR57392 !) ; ibidem, Trilha da cachoeira, 21 March 2014, Friedrich KEL158 ( FLOR57391 !) ; ibidem, Trilha da pousada, 16 November 2013, Magnago ACM545 ( FLOR57406 !). Paraná: Curitiba, Parque Barigui , 26 January 2014, Linhares FTF120 ( FLOR57395 !) ; Paranaguá, Piraquara, Morro do canal, 04 September 2013, Mafalda-Freire FMF123 ( FLOR57400 !) ; ibidem, Morro do canal, 26 January 2014, Linhares FTF121 ( FLOR57394 !). Mato Grosso: Parque Nacional Chapada dos Guimarães, 26 March 2013, Mafalda-Freire FMF88 ( FLOR57397 !). São Paulo: Itoporanga, 16 December 2014, G. Alves-Silva GAS697 ( FLOR57409 !) .

Additional examined specimens: — JAPAN. Fukushima: December 2006, 06 Fuka 1 !; ibidem, December 2006, 06Fuka2!; ibidem, December 2006, 06Fuka3!; ibidem, December 2006, 06 Fuka 7!. Kagoshima: sine datum, 2004, 04 Yak 1 !; ibidem, 2004, 04Yak2!; ibidem, September 2006, 06 Yak 1!. Hokkaido: Ebetsu city, October 2006, 6N11!. Kyoto, June 2006, 06 Tank 1 !; ibidem, June 2006, 06Tank2!; ibidem, June 2006, 06 Tank 11!. UKRAIN. Primorski land: Khasanski district , valley forest, 27 July 1957, E.Z. Koval s/n (KW 567400!) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Ophiocordyceps neonutans: (A) a specimen in the field, (B) enlarged head with (B*) brown ostioles, (C) perithecia, (D) mature ascus with ascospores, (E) fragmented part spores. (scale bar: A, B = 15 mm, C, D = 300 μm, E = 15 μm).

FIGURE 4. Ophiocordyceps neonutans versus O. nutans: (A, B) Brazilian specimens of O. neonutans; (C) Japanese specimens of Ophiocordyceps nutans (scale bar = 15 mm).