Ophiocordyceps vespulae F.Y. Long, Y.P. Xiao

Cho, Minseo, Kwon, Sun Lul, Jang, Seokyoon, Yoo, Yeonjae, Lee, Sang Hyun, Kwon, Dae Young, Kim, Changmu, Lim, Young Woon & Kim, Jae-Jin, 2024, Notes of 15 unrecorded macrofungi in Korea, Journal of Species Research 13 (1), pp. 67-88 : 80

Ophiocordyceps vespulae F.Y. Long, Y.P. Xiao &

T.C. Wen, Phytotaxa 478(1): 35 (2021) [MB#556626] ( Figs. 1M and 2M )

Korean name: ợḑǐijặệöĩ

Stroma 4 cm long, 0.1 mm in diam, branched, stipitate, yellow to pale orange, arising from thorax of the host. Fertile head is not observed. Sexual morph: Asci narrowly cylindrical, thin-walled, hyaline, apex with apical cap, 40.3-73.2 × 3.4-6.9 μm. Ascospores narrowly cylindrical, filiform, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, 5.1-9.1× 0.7- 1.3 μm. Asexual morph is not determined.

Specimen examined. Korea, Jeollabuk-do, Gochang-gun, Mt. Seonwoon, Seonwoonsa Temple , 35°29 ʹ 51.4 ʺ N, 126° 34 ʹ 51.1 ʺ E, 33 m, mixed hardwood forest, occurring on Coleoptera species, 25 Aug 2022, M. Cho, KUC20220825-06 (NIBRFG0000514548) .

Notes - Ophiocordyceps Petch is a parasitic genus on insects, and about 200 species are accepted worldwide, mostly in tropical forests ( Ban et al., 2015; Sanjuan et al., 2015; Yang et al., 2015; Araújo et al., 2018; Khonsanit et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2019; Long et al., 2021). In Korea, 24 species are listed as Ophiocordyceps ( Sung et al., 2011a; 2011b). This species is characterized by branched, yellow to pale orange stroma, and asci with apical cap ( Long et al., 2021). KUC20220825-06 has similar morphological characteristics to the original description ( Long et al., 2021), but fertile heads are not observed in our specimen. Also, the host is recorded as Coleoptera species in our specimen, but the host is identified as Vespula ( Hymenoptera ) in the original description ( Long et al., 2021). According to the phylogenetic analysis, O. tricentri is identified as the most closely related species ( Fig. 11 ). However, O. tricentri differs from O. vespulae by having wider asci, 5.3-7.5 μm in width ( Long et al., 2021).

Figures

Fig. 1. Macro-morphological characteristics of fifteen unrecorded macrofungi in Korea. A. Agaricus thiersii; B. Baorangia alexandri; C. Boletellus putuoensis; D. Entoloma bulakhae; E. Entoloma pygmaeopapillatum; F. Entoloma subtenuicystidiatum; G. Gerronema kuruvense; H. Hyphoderma nudicephalum; I. Hyphoderma tenue; J. Macrolepiota subcitrophylla; K. Mycena jingyinga; L. Mycena yuezhuoi; M. Ophiocordyceps vespulae; N. Scytinostroma acystidiatum; O. Steccherinum straminellum (scale bar=10 mm for A-D, G-J, M-O; 5 mm for E, F, L; and 2.5 mm for K).

Fig. 2. Micro-morphological characteristics of fifteen unrecorded macrofungi in Korea. A. Agaricus thiersii; B. Baorangia alexandri; C. Boletellus putuoensis; D. Entoloma bulakhae; E. Entoloma pygmaeopapillatum; F. Entoloma subtenuicystidiatum; G. Gerronema kuruvense; H. Hyphoderma nudicephalum; I. Hyphoderma tenue; J. Macrolepiota subcitrophylla; K. Mycena jingyinga; L. Mycena yuezhuoi; M. Ophiocordyceps vespulae; N. Scytinostroma acystidiatum; O. Steccherinum straminellum(scale bars=10μm).

Fig. 11. The phylogenetic tree of Ophiocordyceps vespulae (KUC20220825-06). The tree was constructed based on ITS gene datasets of the genus Ophiocordyceps. Ophiocordyceps sinensis was used as an outgroup. The newly generated sequence is shown in blue and bold. Bootstrap support values more than 70 are shown.