Nomuraea rileyi
Nomuraea rileyi (Farl.) Samson, Stud. Mycol. 6: 81 (1974)
Index Fungorum number: IF 318728; Facesoffungi number: FoF 13947
Parasitic on larvae of Lepidoptera. Colony covering the whole body of host, powdery, green. Mycelium 1.6–3.2 (x̄ = 2.5, n = 30) μm in wide, hyaline, septate, smooth-walled. Conidiophores micronematous, developing from procumbent mycelia, bearing clusters of metulae or phialides. Metulae 3.5–7 × 3–4 (x̄ = 5 × 3.6, n = 20) μm, oblong to subglobose, carrying a group of phialides. Phialides 3.5–5 × 2–4 (x̄ = 4 × 2.7, n = 20) μm, monophialidic, ellipsoidal to subglobose, hyaline, smooth-walled, aseptate. Conidia 3.5–4.5 × 1.5–3 (x̄ = 4 × 2.3, n = 30) μm, oval to subglobose, hyaline, aseptate, adhering in chains.
Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, Kunming City, Panlong District, forest near Songhuaba reservoir, on dead lepidopteran larva lying on grass land, 30 October 2021, De-Ping Wei, SHB04 (HKAS 102454).
Molecular data: LSU (OQ127370), SSU (OQ127299), ITS (OQ127335), TEF (OQ186362), RPB1 (OQ186416)
Notes – Samson (1974) revisited a series of herbaria and illustrated Nomuraea rileyi, by providing line-drawings of the conidiophores and conidia. This species was reported to infect a wide range of hosts in Europe, including Plusia brassicae, Anticarsia gemmatalis, soybean loopers, Trichoplusia ni (USA), caterpillar (Vadosta), grassworn (Romano), Prodenia ornitbogali (Orlando), insect larvae (Auburndale), spiders (Great Britain), Heliotbis armigera (France) and Spodoptera littoralis (Israel). Nomuraea rileyi was later synonymized under Metarhizium based on three strains (namely AF36850, CBS 806.7 and NBRC 8560) (Mongkolsamrit et al. 2020a). The specimen (HKAS 102454) was found to infect a lepidopteran larva on grass land. It produces typical nomuraea-like conidiophores. We are determined to revive the species name Nomuraea rileyi to accommodate our specimens with the reason given in the discussion.
Nomuraea rileyi (HKAS 102454) p, q, r Fungal colony on hosts. s–u Conidiophores and phialides. v–x Conidia. Scale bars: s, t = 50 μm, v–x = 3 μm (s–u stained with Congo red solution).
Reference:
Wei DP, Gentekaki E, Wanasinghe DN, Karunarathna SC, Tang SM, Hyde KD 2022 – Diversity, molecular dating and ancestral characters state reconstruction of entomopathogenic fungi in Hypocreales. Mycosphere 13: 281–351.
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