Perennicordyceps zongqii W. H. Chen, Y. F. Han & J. D. Liang sp. nov.

Fig. 2

Etymology.

In honor of Prof. Zongqi Liang, for his support and guidance in arthropod pathogenic fungi research.

Type.

China • Guizhou Province, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City, Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E), on a larva of moth ( Lepidoptera), on the leaf litter, 1 May 2022, Wanhao Chen, GZAC DY 0542 (holotype), ex-type DY 05421 .

Description.

Colonies on PDA, attaining a diameter of 56–59 mm after 14 days at 25 ° C, white, consisting of a basal felt, floccose hyphal overgrowth, yellowish in middle; reverse yellow to pale yellowish, light brown to brown in the middle. Hyphae septate, hyaline, yellowish in the middle part of the colony, smooth-walled, 1.1–2.1 μm wide. Conidiophores erect, hyaline, irregular branched, with 1–4 phialides. Phialides 29.3–31.1 × 1.5–2.4 μm, hyaline, cylindrical at base, gradually tapering near the apex, holoblastic or branch. Conidia 3.4–4.8 × 2.5–2.7 μm, hyaline, smooth-walled, thin-walled, ellipsoidal to cylindrical, unicellular, acuminate, arranged in chains not observed.

Distribution.

Duyun City, Guizhou Province, China.

Host.

Larva ( Lepidoptera).

Additional strain examined.

China • Guizhou Province, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City, Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E). On a larva of moth ( Lepidoptera), on the leaf litter, 1 May 2022, Wanhao Chen, DY 05422 (living culture) .

Notes.

Strain DY 05421 was easily identified as Perennicordyceps, based on the BLASTn result in NCBI. Phylogenetic analyses show that strain DY 05421 has close relationships to P. cuboidea and P. ryogamiensis (Fig. 1). However, strain DY 05421 was easily distinguished from P. cuboidea (globose to ellipsoid conidia, 1.3–3.7 × 1.1–2.3 μm; phialide, 18.9–22.2 × 0.8–1.1 μm; substrate, larvae of Coleoptera) by its larger ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia, larger phialide and the substrate (Ban et al. 2009). Strain DY 05421 was easily distinguished from P. ryogamiensis (ellipsoid conidia, 2.5–3.9 × 1.0–1.4 μm; phialide, 17.5–55.2 × 0.8–2.7 μm; substrate, larvae of Coleoptera) by its larger ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia, smaller phialide and the substrate (Ban et al. 2009). Thus, the morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic results support strain DY 05421 as a new Perennicordyceps species and named Perennicordyceps zongqii .