Ophiocordyceps anocheti S.Q. Xie, Y.P. Xiao & Y. Yang, 2025

Ophiocordyceps anocheti S.Q. Xie, Y.P. Xiao & Y. Yang sp. nov. Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2

Index Fungorum : IF 903592, Facesoffungi number: FoF 17624

Etymology:— Named after its host, Anochetus sp.

Sexual morph : undetermined. Asexual morph : Hymenostilbe -like. Synnemata 1.2–4.2 cm long, 0.2–0.4 mm wide, arising from the insect joint, solitary or multiple, pale yellow to light yellow, smooth, without an enlarged globose fertile head on the top. Phialides solitary along synnemata, stout, protuberant, hyaline, clavate, obclavate, 11.4–16.5 × 2.5–3.7 µm ( x = 13.9 × 3.1 µm, n = 50). Conidia smooth-walled, hyaline, one-celled, solitary, long obovoid, fusiform-elliptical, 5.5–8.8 × 1.8–2.7 μm ( x = 3.2 × 2 µm, n = 50).

Material examined:— CHINA. Guizhou Province: Guiyang city, at 895 m, 106.241 E, 26.522 N, 13 May 2023, collected by Shu Qiong Xie, YPD2323 (HKAS 132231, holotype). Same collecting details YPD2324 (HKAS 132269).

Known distribution:— Guizhou, China

Known hosts:— Red ant adults ( Anochetus sp. , Ponerinae )

GenBank Numbers: HKAS 132231: (LSU: PV139248, SSU: PV139232, ITS: PV139217, tef-1α: PV156011, rpb1: PV155982, rpb2: PV155996), HKAS 132269: (LSU: PV139249, SSU: PV139233, ITS: PV139218, tef-1α: PV156012, rpb1: PV155983, rpb2: PV155997)

Notes:— Two phylogenetically species, Ophiocordyceps oxycephala and O. sphecocephala parasitize Vespula spp. ( Hymenoptera ) ( Hywel-Jones 1996), whereas the host of O. anocheti is Anochetus sp. ( Ponerinae ). Ophiocordyceps anocheti is morphologically distinct from other Ophiocordyceps species, characterized by slender, pale yellow synnemata, hyaline phialides, and smooth-walled, fusiform-elliptical conidia. In the phylogenetic analysis, O. anocheti clustered with O. oxycephala and O. sphecocephala with strong support (100% MLBP, 1.00 PP) ( Fig 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Sequence comparisons between O. anocheti and O. sphecocephala revealed similarities of 98.80% (10 bp differences) for LSU, 94.56% (27 bp differences) for ITS, 98.64% (12 bp differences) for tef-1α, 98.05% (14 bp differences) for rpb1, and 97.97% (22 bp differences) for rpb2. Comparisons between O. anocheti and O. oxycephala showed 98.80% (10 bp differences) for LSU and 95.77% (23 bp differences) for ITS. Based on these phylogenetic and morphological analyses, O. anocheti is introduced as a new species. Details of asexual morph of Ophiocordyceps species parasitic on ants are provided in Table 2.