Three new species in Cordycipitaceae and Clavicipitaceae (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) from Yunnan, China

Yunnan Province is a hotspot for biodiversity research. In recent years, the diversity of entomopathogenic fungi in this region has been continuously reported. During a survey of entomopathogenic fungi in Yunnan Province, three new species, Ascopolyporus sinensis, Cordyceps anningensis, and Hypocrella umbilicata, were identified and proposed based on multigene phylogenetic analyses and morphological characterization.

Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using a combined dataset of nrSSU, nrLSU, tef- 1 α, rpb 1, and rpb 2, which clarified the taxonomic status of these three new species. Ascopolyporus sinensis is positioned at the base of the genus Ascopolyporus (Cordycipitaceae) and is characterized by the production of a pale purplish-pink pigment that diffuses into PDA plates and fusiform to acerose conidia aggregated at the apices of phialides.

Cordyceps anningensis is phylogenetically closely related to C. sandindaengensis and C. locastraeare but can be distinguished from these two species by the position of the synnemata on the host insect and the size of the conidia. Hypocrella umbilicata is similar to closely related species of Hypocrella (Clavicipitaceae) in having pulvinate stromata and filiform to long-fusiform ascospores that do not disarticulate but differs in having a distinctly depressed central region on the stromata.

The discovery of these three taxa contributes to our understanding of fungal diversity and phylogeny in this region.