Pleurocordyceps puerensis – Facesoffungi number: FoF 15772

Pleurocordyceps puerensis X. Zhang, Z.L. Liu & T.C. Wen, in Cao et al., Fungal Diversity 132: 492 (2025)

Index Fungorum number: IF 902009; MycoBank number: MB 902009; Facesoffungi number: FoF 15772; Figs. 1, 2

Etymology – ‘puerensis’ in reference to the city where the species was found.

Holotype – GACPY117.

Sexual morph: Host 37.4 × 2.8–4.9 mm, a larva of Coleoptera, slender, cylindrical, brown. Stromata arising from the head and tail of the host, paired, branched, cylindrical, yellow to brown, 19.6–27.0 × 0.6–4.0 mm, with sterile apical (9.8–11.4 × 0.5–0.7 mm). Stipes 17.2–22.5 × 0.6–1.6 mm, clavate, the color gradually becoming lighter towards the apex, yellow to brown, with a fertile part. Fertile parts 1.9–4.1 × 2.2–4.0 mm, subglobose or hemispherical, yellowish. Perithecia (791–)796–829–852(–997) × (171–)217–272–325(–371) µm, ovoid, immersed, yellow to hyaline, the color gradually becomes lighter towards the inner layer. Asci (225–)317–442–597(–600) × 3.4–4.1–4.5(–4.9) µm, hyaline, cylindrical, with a hemispheric apical cap of (2.3–)3.6–4.2–4.7(–5.6) × (3.6–)4.3–4.8–5.1(–5.2) µm.  Ascospores (143–)173–224–265(–270) × (0.9–)1–1.2–1.4(–1.5) µm, filiform, hyaline, irregular multiseptate. Secondary ascospores (3.9–)4–5.2–5.6(–5.8) × (1.1–)1.2–1.5–1.6(–1.8) µm, cylindrical, smooth.

Material examined – CHINA, Yunnan Province, Puer City, 22°72’N 100°96’E, 1339.4 m asl, 22 Oct 2022, Xian Zhang, Zhong-liang Liu, Y20231022117 (GACPY117, holotype).

GenBank – GACPY117: PP627512 (ITS), PP616709 (LSU), PP707759 (SSU), PP654214 (tef1), PP654216 (rpb1).

Notes – The new species is sister to P. sanduensis with nearly maximum support (SH-aLRT 79.9% / UFB 100% / PP 0.93, Fig. 1). Due to the lack of sexual morph of P. sanduensis and P. puerensis, it is impossible to compare them in morphological characteristics. However, the new species differs from P. sanduensis by 2 bp (including 1 gap) in ITS, 22 bp (including 7 gap) in SSU, 6 bp in tef1 and 1 bp (including 1 gap) in rpb1. Thus, we introduce P. puerensis as a new species of the Pleurocordyceps.

Figure 1 – Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree based on concatenation of ITS, LSU, SSU, tef1 and rpb1 sequence data. The phylogeny was inferred using IQ-tree. The number of SH-aLRT > 75% / UFB > 85% / PP > 0.90 are indicated above the nodes. My data are indicated in red bold font.

Figure 2 – Pleurocordyceps puerensis (GACPY117, holotype). a Stroma arising from host. b Fertile part. c Perithecia. d Asci. e–f Ascospores. g Part of ascospores. h–i Secondary ascospores. Scale bars: a = 10 mm, b = 1 mm, c = 200 µm, d–g = 25 µm, h–i = 10 µm.