Ophiocordyceps Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 16(1): 73 (1931)

MycoBank number: MB 3598; Index Fungorum number: IF 3598; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01318; 242 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 125 species with sequence data.

Type species – Ophiocordyceps blattae (Petch) Petch

Notes – This genus is the type genus of Ophiocordycipitaceae (Sung et al. 2007). Quandt et al. (2014) emended this genus based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses. Based on phylogenetic analyses, the oldest name in the Ophiocordycipitaceae clade is Sorosporella, a synonym of Syngliocladium. Sorosporella was suppressed (Quandt et al. 2014), while Syngliocladium was previously treated with respect to the second oldest name Hirsutella (Evans & Samson 1982). Ophiocordyceps should be protected over the other names. Most species of the genus are considered as entomopathogenic and have darkly pigmented, tough, fibrous, pliant to wiry, stipitate or sessile stromata, superficial to completely immersed perithecia and ascospores disarticulating into part-spores or non-disarticulating (Sung et al. 2007). The asexual morphs of this genus are members of Hirsutella, Hymenostible, Paraisaria and Syngliocladium (Sung et al. 2007).

Figure 182 – Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis (Material examined – CHINA, Hunan Province, on Phassus nodus in root of living Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum, 20 October 2012, Ru-Cai Zhu, GZUH 2012HN14, holotype). a Habitat of Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis. b Overview of stromata and the host. c Adult of the host. d Brown, superficial ascomata on stroma. e-g Cross sections showing the complete stromata and perithecia. h-j Asci. k Part of ascospore. Scale bars: Scale bars: e-g = 200 µm, h-k= 50 µm.

Figure 183 – Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis (Material examined – CHINA, Hunan Province, on Phassus nodus in root of living Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum, 20 October 2012, Ru-Cai Zhu, GZUCCHN131, ex-paratype living culture). a Overview of stromata and the host. b Colonies on PDA after 1 week. c Back of colonies on PDA after 1 week. d Colonies on PDA after 3 weeks. e Back of colonies on PDA after 1 week. f Solitary conidiogenous cells from vegetative hyphae. g Opposite conidiogenous cells. h Conidiogenous cells in whorls. i Conidia. Scale bars: b-e = 2 cm, f- h = 10 µm, i= 5 µm.

Species