Samsoniella aurantia Mongkolsamrit, Noisripoom, Thanakitpipattana, Spatafora & Luangsa-ard, 2018

Wang, Yao, Wang, Zhi-Qin, Thanarut, Chinnapan, Dao, Van-Minh, Wang, Yuan-Bing & Yu, Hong, 2023, Phylogeny and species delimitations in the economically, medically, and ecologically important genus Samsoniella (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales), MycoKeys 99, pp. 227-250 : 227

Samsoniella aurantia Mongkolsamrit, Noisripoom, Thanakitpipattana, Spatafora & Luangsa-ard

Fig. 4

Type.

Thailand (holotype: BBH 33739 ; ex-type living culture: TBRC 7271) .

Description.

Teleomorph: Stromata arising from lepidopteran insects, gregarious, branched or unbranched, up to 8.8-63.8 mm long. Stipes fleshly, flexuous, yellowish to orange, cylindrical to clavate, 4.1-49.1 × 0.2-2.3 mm. Fertile parts reddish orange, clavate, lateral side usually have a longitudinal section without producing perithecia, 3.8-17.7 × 0.8-4.1 mm. Perithecia crowded, superficial, narrowly ovoid to fusiform, 302.7-449.7 × 105.3-164.9 µm. Asci hyaline, cylindrical, 8-spored, 92-190 × 1.8-3.6 μm. Apical caps prominent, hemiglobose, 2.1-3.4 µm wide, 1.2-2.3 µm high. Ascospores not observed. Anamorph: See Mongkolsamrit et al. (2018). The following descriptions are based on other specimens examined from China. Synnemata arising from lepidopteran larvae. Synnemata erect, flexuous, irregularly branched, white or pale orange, 7.7-32.6 × 0.2-2.1 mm. Stipes cylindrical, producing a mass of conidia at the branches of synnemata, powdery and floccose. Colonies on PDA moderately fast-growing, 26-30 mm diameter in 14 days at 25 °C, light orange to orange, consisting of a basal felt and cottony, sporulating abundantly at the centrum, reverse yellowish, turning deep yellow. Synnemata emerging after 25 days, solitary, unbranched. Size and shape of phialides and conidia similar to that of S. aurantia ex-type isolate (TBRC 7271).

Distribution.

Chiang Mai Province, Thailand; Guizhou and Yunnan Province, China; Lao Cai Province, Vietnam.

Materials examined.

China, Yunnan Province, Zhaotong City, Shuifu County, Taiping Town , Tongluoba National Forest Park (2 8°24′36″N, 104°9′0″ E, 1750 m above sea level), on larvae of Hepialidae living in Qiongzhuea tumidinoda forests, 20 June 2015, collected by Hong Yu (YHH 874, YHH 890-YHH 893; living culture: 874) . Vietnam, Lao Cai Province, Sa Pa District, Hoang Lien Mountains (22°21′8″N, 103°46′29″E, 1900 m above sea level), on a pupa of Limacodidae in a cocoon buried in soil, 31 October 2016, Hong Yu (YHH 880, YHH 894; living culture: YFCC 880) . Thailand, Chiang Mai Province, Chiang Mai City, Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden (536 m above sea level), on lepidopteran larvae in leaf litter, 26 August 2018, Yao Wang (YHH 895-YHH 896) .

Commentary.

Numerous species of Samsoniella were described originally from asexual morphs, including S. aurantia from Thailand ( Mongkolsamrit et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2020a; Chen et al. 2022; Wang et al. 2022). Chen et al. (2021) reported S. aurantia isolated from a lepidopteran pupa as a new record for China. However, its sexual morph was undetermined in these studies. The present study is the first to report the teleomorph reproductive stage for S. aurantia . Samsoniella aurantia has fleshy stromata, clavate fertile parts, superficial perithecia, and cylindrical asci with bola-shaped ascospores. However, S. aurantia differs from other teleomorph species by its phylogenetic placement in the genus by having abundant long stromata extruded from the entire body of lepidopteran insects and by shorter asci measuring 92-190 µm.

Figures

Figure 4. Samsoniella aurantia A, B perithecial stromata as encountered in the field C, D fungus on the pupae of Limacodidae inhabiting cocoons E, F synnemata arising from lepidopteran larvae G, H Perithecia I-K asci L colony as obversed on PDA. Scale bars: 10 mm (C, D, F); 5 mm (E); 200 µm (G); 100 µm (H); 10 µm (I, J, K); 20 mm (L).