Ovicuculispora parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Etayo, Bull. Soc. Linn. Provence

Ovicuculispora parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Etayo, Bull. Soc. Linn. Provence View in CoL 61: 112. 2010. MycoBank MB 565895. Figs 3B, 4F.

Basionym: Diplodia parmeliae Berk. & M.A. Curtis , in Berkeley, Grevillea View in CoL 3 (25): 3. 1874.

Synonyms: Diplodina parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Sacc., Syll. Fung. (Abellini) 3: 413. 1884.

Nectria parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) D. Hawksw., Bull. Br. Mus . Nat. Hist., Bot. 9 (1): 76. 1981.

Nectriopsis parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) M.S. Cole & D. Hawksw., Mycotaxon View in CoL 77: 321. 2001. Typus : USA, South Carolina, on Parmelia cf. rudecta Ach., M.A. Curtis Car. Inf. 1278 (holotype K, not examined)

Nectria heterospora Speg., Boln Acad. nac. Cienc. Córdoba 11 (4): 523. 1889.

Cucurbitaria heterospora (Speg.) Kuntze , Revis . gen. pl. (Leipzig) 3 (3): 461. 1898. Typus: Brazil, Apiahy, on Lobaria sp. , 1881/86, J. Puiggari 126 (lectotype LPS 1.585ª, not examined).

Nectria diplocarpa Ellis & Everh., Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 42: 244. 1890.

Cucurbitaria diplocarpa (Ellis & Everh.) Kuntze, Revisio generum plantarum 3 (3): 461. 1898.

Typus: USA, New York, Farmington , on Physcia cf. aipolia, Dec. 1888 , E. Brown 17 (holotype NY, not examined) .

Ascomata perithecioid, globose, scattered or in group 2–5 ascomata, pale to medium pink to orange, mostly covered by hyphae, which produce a whitish to pinkish tomentum at the lower part, collapsed when dry, 200–350 μm in diam. Ascomatal wall composed of 5–7 layers of radially compressed pseudoparenchymatous thick-walled cells, KOH–. Asci broadly clavate, normally with 1 macrospore, and 3–4 microspores, 50–70 × 10–15 μm (n = 8). Macrospores hyaline, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, 1-septate, rarely 2-septate, not constricted to constricted at the septa, with round ends, smooth-walled, (40.0–)44.2–56.5(–64.0) × (16.5–)19.0–25.2(–29.5) μm (n = 50), 1/b (1.7–)1.9–2.5(– 3.2); microspores ellipsoid, hyaline, 1-septate, not constricted at the septa, verruculose, (8.5–)9.2–12.2(–13.8) × (3.8–)4.2– 5.4(–6.2) μm (n = 80), 1/b (1.5–)1.9–2.3(–2.7).

Distribution, habitat and host range: Ovicuculispora parmeliae seems to be a cosmopolitan generalist species found on various distantly related lichen genera from families Candelariaceae , Cladoniaceae , Graphidaceae , Lecanoraceae , Pannariaceae , Parmeliaceae , Physciaceae and Teloschistaceae (e.g. Etayo 2010, Tadome & Ohmura 2021).

Specimens examined: Bolivia, Cochabamba Department, Tiraque Province, Carrasco National Park, Camino de los Nubes, Antenas Sillar-Villa Tunari old road, 17º12’29”S, 65º41’24”W, 3591 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs, on Sticta sp. , 30 Nov. 2014, A. Flakus 26009 (KRAM L-74677, LPB), ibid., on Sticta sp. , A. Flakus 26010 (KRAM L-74678, LPB); ibid., on Sticta sp. , A. Flakus 26011 (KRAM L-74679, LPB); La Paz Department, Murillo Province, Sainani, Valle del Zongo, 16º07’20”S, 68º05’09”W, 2220 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs and scattered trees, on Hypotrachyna sp. , 7 Dec. 2014, A. Flakus 26252 (LPB); Tarija Department, Aniceto Arce Province, Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve, between la Cumbre and camamento los Alisos, 22º01’02”S, 64º34’51”W, 2135 m a.s.l., Boliviano-Tucumano forest with Alnus acuminata and Polylepis , on Remototrachyna cf. costaricensis , 22 July 2015, A. Flakus 27067 (KRAM L-74680, LPB); ibid., 22º02’38”S, 64º35’47”W, 2460 m a.s.l., on Crocodia aurea , 22 July 2015, A. Flakus 27025 (LPB); ibid., 21º59’21”S, 64º36’52”W, 3040 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs and rocks, on Heterodermia sp. , 25 July 2015, A. Flakus 27227 (KRAM L-74682, LPB); Burnet O’Connor Province, Sandiego Sur, top of the hill on old road between Tarija and Entre Ríos, 21º27’04”S, 64º13’59”W, 1812 m a.s.l., Boliviano-Tucumano forest, on Punctelia sp. , 30 July 2015, J. Etayo 32636 (hb. Etayo, LPB).

Notes: Ovicuculispora parmeliae is a quite variable species regarding to ascospore shape and host selection.Additionally, considerable variation in the size of macrospores has been reported ( Hawksworth & Booth 1976, Etayo 2010, Zhurbenko 2014), even within a single specimen or population. This has raised many concerns about the species circumscription and the taxonomy based on macrospore features, distribution data and host selection ( Hawksworth 1981, Flakus et al. 2006, Etayo 2010, Etayo & van den Boom 2013, Zhurbenko 2014, Tadome & Ohmura 2021).

During this study, we observed a huge variability within three specimens of Ovicuculispora parmeliae collected on Sticta sp. from the same locality. The macrospores exhibit a range of shapes and sizes, including: ellipsoid, 1-septate, not constricted at the septum, (41.0–)43.5–53.2(–61.0) × (16.5–)17.8–20.6(–22.8) μm (n = 25) in KRAM L-74677; ellipsoid, 1-septate, not constricted at the septum, (26.3–)30.8–42.3(– 48.2) × (12.2–)13.0–18.4(–23.8) (n = 25) in KRAM L-74678; broadly ellipsoid, 1(–2)-septate, constricted at the septum, (57.2–)65.5–80.8(–85.0) × (27.2–)32.2–36.6(–41.0) μm (n = 25) in KRAM L-74679. However, the ITS sequences generated for these abovementioned specimens showed 100 % identity and 99 % of similarity to other specimens growing on different hosts. Similar results were found in multi-gene phylogeny ( Fig. 2), where the specimens on different hosts formed a single well-supported clade. However, to better understand the intraspecific variability of the species a larger sampling is needed.