Laboulbenia kingsleyae W. Rossi & M. Leonardi, 2018

Rossi, Walter & Leonardi, Marco, 2018, New species and new records of Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota) from Sierra Leone, Phytotaxa 358 (2), pp. 91-116 : 99-101

Laboulbenia kingsleyae W. Rossi & M. Leonardi sp. nov. ( Figure 3c )

MycoBank MB 826856

Etymology:—The new species in named after Mary H. Kingsley (1862–1900), English writer and explorer, who travelled through Sierra Leone in 1883.

Original description:—Thallus yellowish brown, darker in the upper portion of cell I, in the lower portion of the appendages, and on the upper, dorsal portion of the receptacle; the lower portion of cell I is very pale, nearly hyaline, sometimes contrasting with the much darker upper portion. Basal cell of the receptacle (cell I) slender and elongate, above which the receptacle enlarges symmetrically forming an isosceles triangle. Suprabasal cell (cell II) rather stocky, pentagonal, about as long as the basal. Cell III broadly quadrangular, about twice as long as it is broad. Cell IV longer than cell III, divided by transverse septa into three or four superimposed cells and extended upward beyond the black insertion cell forming a large, blunt prominence. Cell V relatively large, shield-shaped. Outer appendage consisting of a large, irregularly quadrangular basal cell bearing distally three cells, each giving rise to two stiff, straight, suberect simple branchlets with the distal portion gradually paler and more slender, slightly exceeding the perithecial apex; the outermost of these branchlets is much darker than the others, directed outwards and usually broken. Inner appendage consisting of a trapezoidal basal cell slightly smaller than the outer, producing distally a few short branchlets bearing several elongate and falcate antheridia; the latter are very soon replaced by branchlets identical with those of the outer appendage, with which they form a dense tuft in mature specimens. Stalk-cell of the perithecium (cell VI) slightly longer than cell III. Basal cells of the perithecium relatively large. The latter wholly free, elongate, subfusiform, regularly tapering to a subconical tip ending in rounded lips, the inner (dorsal) of which are subtended by a blackish area. Length from foot to tip of perithecium 410–480 μm; length from foot to tip of longest appendages 490 (720) μm; perithecium 195–235 × 60–75 μm.

Type: — SIERRA LEONE, Western Area, Regent, Jan 1977, W. Rossi , near the tip of the ventral side of the abdomen of Abacetus (Triaenabacetus) cf. pubescens Dejean ( Carabidae ) (FI4070).

Additional material examined: —Same data of the type, at the tip of the elytra (paratype FI4071); same data of the type, at the tip of the abdomen, 6–9.II.1992 (paratype FI4083). A total of 8 mature and 10 other thalli at various stages of development have been studied .

Comments: —Because of the division of cell IV and the same bulging upward, at a first glance the new species reminds Laboulbenia anoplogenii . However, the appendages of the two parasites are very different: in L. kingsleyae these are brush-like, with the branchlets straight and hardly exceeding the perithecial apex, while in L. anoplogenii the branchlets are long, flexuous and usually much fewer ( Terada 2001). Moreover the new species has a black and opaque insertion cell (the same is reddish in L. anoplogenii ), the receptacle distinctly stockier, the perithecium more slender and elongate.

Figures

FIGURE 3. a: Laboulbenia insolita. b: upper portion of the perithecium of L. insolita. c: Laboulbenia kingsleyae from the type slide. d: Rhachomyces carbonii. e: Amphimyces cerylonis. f: Corethromyces rostellatus. g: Dimeromyces muticus. Scale bars: a, c, d, e, f, g = 50 μm; b = 25 μm.