Cordyceps pruinosa

Cordyceps pruinosa Petch, Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 10(1-2): 38 (1924)

Index Fungorum number: IF165068, Facesoffungi number: FoF07468

Parasitic on limacodid pupa which resemble a plant seed. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Stroma emerging from host, single, erect, cylindrical, apically branched, red, pale yellow at the base, fleshy, with white straight hyphae and interlaced vegetative hyphae mass occurring on the surface of upper stroma. In vitro, Synnemata orange, erect, compacted below, apically branched, becoming finger-like. Mycelium 0.6–1.20 (x̄ = 1, n = 20) μm, aseptate, hyaline, smooth-walled. Conidiophores macronematous, prostrate, branched, bearing solitary or 2–3 whorls of phialides. Conidiogenous cells phialidic. Phialides 11–30 × 1.2–1.6 (x̄ = 16 × 1.3, n = 20) μm, aseptate, monophialidic, gradually tapering towards the apex, hyaline, straight. Conidia 1.8–4.8 × 0.9–2.7 (x̄ = 3 × 1.5, n = 30) μm, globose, oval, cylindrical, aseptate, smooth-walled, hyaline, aggregating in imbricated slimy chains at the tip of phialides. Asexual morph: Undetermined. (Adopted from Hyde et al. 2020)

Culture characters: slow-growing on PDA, reaching 4 cm in diameter after incubating at room temperature for 26 days, yellow from upper and reverse view, floccose, dense, circular, feathery margin, with several erect, orange synnemata developing at central regions, without diffused pigment. The sporulation occurs on upper part of synnemata. (Adopted from Hyde et al. 2020)

Known hosts and distribution (based on molecular data): on cocoon of a Limacodidae insect, Iragoides fasciata (Lepidoptera) (China, Korea, Japan) (Hyde et al. 2020).

Important value: folk medicine.

Sequence data: KUMCC 18–0340 (ITS = MT012347, LSU = MT012354, SSU = MT012361, TEF = MT025053) (Hyde et al. 2020)