Samsoniella vallis W.H. Chen, Y.F. Han & J.D. Liang, 2023

Chen, Wan-Hao, Liang, Jian-Dong, Ren, Xiu-Xiu, Zhao, Jie-Hong & Han, Yan-Feng, 2023, Two new species of Samsoniella (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) from the Mayao River Valley, Guizhou, China, MycoKeys 99, pp. 209-226 : 209

Samsoniella vallis W.H. Chen, Y.F. Han & J.D. Liang sp. nov.

Fig. 4

Type.

China, Guizhou, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City , Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E). On a pupa ( Lepidoptera ) clinging to fallen leaves, 30 July 2022, Wanhao Chen, GZAC DY0724 (holotype), ex-type living cultures, DY07241 .

Description.

Synnemata arising from every part of the body of the pupa host. Synnemata erect, usually irregularly branched at the apex, conidia in abundance at the apex. Colonies on PDA, attaining a diameter of 31-37 mm after 14 days at 25 °C, white, consisting of a basal felt, floccose hyphal overgrowth; reverse yellowish. Hyphae septate, hyaline, smooth-walled, 2.1-3.0 μm wide. Conidiophores hyaline, smooth-walled, with single phialide or whorls of 2-4 phialides or verticillium-like from hyphae directly, 11.3-22.1 × 1.3-1.4 μm. Phialides cylindrical to ellipsoidal, somewhat inflated base, 7.2-8.1 × 2.8-3.2 μm, tapering to a thin neck. Conidia hyaline, smooth-walled, fusiform to ellipsoidal, 2.3-3.1 × 1.5-2.1 μm, forming divergent and basipetal chains. Sexual state not observed.

Host.

Pupa ( Lepidoptera ).

Etymology.

Referring to its location in Mayao River Valley.

Additional material examined.

China, Guizhou, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City , Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E). On a pupa ( Lepidoptera ) clinging to fallen leaves, 30 July 2022, Wanhao Chen, DY 07242 (living culture) ; China, Guizhou, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City , Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E). On a pupa ( Lepidoptera ) clinging to fallen leaves, 4 September 2021, Wanhao Chen, GZAC DY09109 (specimen), DY091091 and DY091092 (living culture). On a pupa ( Lepidoptera ) clinging to fallen leaves, 4 September 2021, Wanhao Chen, GZAC DY0909 (specimen) .

Remarks.

Samsoniella vallis was easily identified as Samsoniella , based on the BLASTn result in NCBI and the phylogenetic analysis of the combined datasets (ITS, LSU, RPB1, RPB2 and TEF) (Fig. 1 ) and clustered with S. aurantia in a clade. However, it is distinguished from S. aurantia (phialides: 5-13 × 2-3 μm; conidia: fusiform or oval, 2-4 × 1-2 μm) by shorter phialides, smaller fusiform to ellipsoidal conidia. Comparing with the typical characteristics of the known species and the keys of Samsoniella species ( Wang et al. 2022), S. vallis has a close relationship with S. coccinellidicola and S. sinensis by absence of sexual state, presence of synnemata and irregularly branched, moderate growth of colony. However, it is distinguished from S. coccinellidicola (phialides: 6.0-14.1 × 1.0-2.0 μm; conidia: fusiform or oval; host, adults of Coccinellidae ) by shorter phialides, fusiform to ellipsoidal conidia and its pupa host and distinguished from S. sinensis (phialides: 5.6-9.3 × 1.5-2.1 μm, conidia: spherical, elliptical or fusiform) by fusiform to ellipsoidal conidia and shorter phialides.

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic relationships amongst the new strains and their allies based on multigene dataset (ITS, LSU, RPB 1, RPB 2 and TEF). Statistical support values (≥ 70 % / 0.70) are shown at the nodes for ML bootstrap support / BI posterior probabilities. The new strains or species are in bold type.

Figure 4. Samsoniella vallis A infected pupa (Lepidoptera) B, C PDA culture plate showing top (B) and reverse (C) sides of the colony D-M phialides and conidia. Scale bars: 10 mm (B, C); 10 μm (D-M).