Cordycipitaceae Kreisel, Stud. Mycol. 57: 48 (2007)
MycoBank number: MB 504360; Index Fungorum number: IF 504360; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01314; 313 species.
Parasites or pathogens of scale insects or mosses, or saprobes in leaf litter and upper soil layers. Sexual morph: Stromata or subiculum, fleshy, pallid, or brightly coloured. Perithecia superficial to completely immersed, oriented at right angles to the surface of the stroma. Asci mostly 8–spored, cylindrical, with thickened ascus apex. Ascospores usually cylindrical, multi-septate, disarticulating into part-spores or remaining intact at maturity. Asexual morph: beauveria- like, engyodontium-like, lecanicillium-like, mariannaea-like, simplicillium-like.
Type genus – Cordyceps Fr.
Notes – Cordycipitaceae was first used by Kreisel (1969), while Wehmeyer (1976) used Cordycipitoideae as subfamily for Clavicipitaceae based on the type genus Cordyceps. Cordycipitaceae was validly segregated from Clavicipitaceae by Sung et al. (2007), based on morphology analyses and multi-gene phylogenetic. Most of the species in the family are entomogenous and produce superficial to partially immersed to completely immersed perithecia, on a fleshy stroma or subicula, that are pallid or brightly coloured (Sung et al. 2007). Sung et al. (2007) confined 11 genera to this family, while Kepler et al. (2017) proposed maintaining nine generic names (Akanthomyces, Ascopolyporus, Beauveria, Cordyceps, Engyodontium, Gibellula, Hyperdermium, Parengyodontium, and Simplicillium) and rejected 8 generic names (Evlachovaea, Granulomanus, Isaria, Lecanicillium, Microhilum, Phytocordyceps, Synsterigmatocystis, and Torrubiella). Kepler et al. (2017) also described two new generic names (Hevansia and Blackwellomyces). The most recent addition is Samsoniella (Mongkolsamrit et al. 2018). In addition, Index Fungorum (2020) records two generic names (Beejasamuha and Rotiferophthora), which were not mentioned in papers, but are included here. Isaria and Microhilum were considered as synonyms of Cordyceps, and Granulomanus was considered as a synonym of Gibellula (Kepler et al. 2017). The asexual morphs in this family are confused.