This project aims to catalog the Cordyceps-like mushrooms that occur in North America (genera listed below). Finders of these fungi are highly encouraged to voucher their collections—dry them using a food dehydrator set to the lowest temp. setting for at least 24 hrs, store them in a ziploc bag and make a record of the collection with at least these details:
Date, location, substrate, habitat, surrounding vegetation, and any other relevant info.
Preserving specimens in this way allows this them to be studied at a future date e.g. by microscopy, DNA sequencing, or chemical analysis. Vouchered specimens can be maintained in a personal herbarium, or deposited in one of many acreditted herbaria around the world (https://www.mycoportal.org/portal/collections/index.php). Some guidelines on vouchering can be found here:
http://qldfungi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Making-collections-of-fungi-for-Herbaria.pdf
The Cordyceps s.l. are a remarkable and fascinating group of fungi considered by some beautiful, by others grotesque, by all astounding. To learn about the Cordyceps for the first time is to be amazed. These mushrooms that grow on insects come in many shapes and sizes, their powers to affect humanity are scarcely tapped, and their role in ecosystems poorly understood. Some species produce life-saving drugs (i.e. cyclosporins, discovered from Tolypocladium inflatum [=Cordyceps subsessilis]). Genomic evidence suggests that in addition to cyclosporins, there are many bioactive secondary metabolites produced by these fungi that have not yet been discovered and characterized.
Several independent Cordyceps lineages exhibit a profound "extended phenotype"—behavior manipulation of their arthropod hosts optimized to enhance spore dispersal and—as has recently been shown—to bypass the social immunity of some insects. Most famously the "zombie ant fungus"—members of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis complex—manipulate the behavior of carpenter ants (tribe Camponotini), causing them to leave their colonies (wherein other ants would otherwise kill and discard the infected ant, foiling the fungal infection), climb to a height above the forest floor, and grip a leaf, twig, log, or trunk (these are specific to different spp. with the complex) with the mandibles, where the ant shortly after dies. The fruiting body of the fungus then emerges from the neck of the ant, and rains ascospores and/or condiospores down onto the forest floor to infect more ants. The mechanism of fungal zombification is not well understood and is an active area of research.
Cordyceps mushrooms tend to exhibit strict host specificity often to a specific arthropod species, but knowledge of host range is often limited to order, thus Cordyceps mushrooms are sometimes identified by the order of the host insect on which they occur. Their major hosts include members of the insect order Coleoptera (beetles), Lepidoptera (Moths/butterflies), Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, etc.) and Hemiptera (True bugs), but there are many other groups of arthropods that Cordyceps infect. Several members of genus Tolypocladium (=Elaphocordyceps), infect other fungi—members of genus Elaphomyces, the so-called "deer truffles". Some Cordyceps—e.g. several members of genus Polycephalomyces—are known to parasitize other Cordyceps spp.
Scientific understanding of this remarkable group of fungi is still quite nascent, and research on their biology, chemistry, ecology, systematics, and evolution is underway. The age of [scientific] Cordyceps discovery began over two centuries ago, but it is still alive and exciting, with new Cordyceps species being discovered across the world every year. There are doubtless many Cordyceps species yet to be discovered, and this project may potentially contribute to the discovery and knowledge of this group of fungi.
Cordyceps s.l. (for the purposes of this project) = Hypocrealean pathogens and parasites of arthropods and fungi in the families Cordycipitaceae, Ophiocordycipitaceae, and Clavicipitaceae. This project does not include members of the Hypocreaceae, though Cordyceps is a synonym of some of its members. That lineage seems to have lost its essential Cordycepsy-ness. Both Asexual (Anamorphic) and sexual (Teleomorphic) stages of Cordyceps are considered. Current and outdated genera include:
Akanthomyces
Akrophyton
Amphichorda
Ascopolyporus
Beauveria
Beejasamuha
Blackwellomyces
Cephalosporium
Chamaeleomyces
Chaunopycnis
Conoideocrella
Cordyceps
Cordylia
Coremiopsis
Corynesphaera
Cylindrophora
Didymobotryopsis
Dingleyomyces
Drechmeria
Elaphocordyceps
Engyodontium
Evlachovaea
Flavocillium
Gamszarea
Gamszarella
Gibellula
Granulomanus
Hantamomyces
Harposporium
Hevansia
Hirsutella
Hymenostilbe
Hyperdermium
Hypocrella
Insecticola
Isaria
Jenniferia
Keithomyces
Lecanicillium
Leptobacillium
Liangia
Mahevia
Mariannaea
Maquandomyces
Metacordyceps
Metarhizium
Microhilum
Moelleriella
Neocordyceps
Neotorrubiella
Nigelia
Nomuraea
Ophiocordyceps
Orbiocrella
Paleoophiocordyceps
Papiliomyces
Parahevansia
Paraisaria
Parametarhizium
Parengyodontium
Perrenicordyceps
Petchia
Phytocordyceps
Pleurocordyceps
Pochonia
Podocrella
Podonectria
Podonectrioides
Polistophthora
Polycephalomyces
Polystromomyces
Pseudogibellula
Pseudoniveomyces
Purpureocillium
Purpureomyces
Racemella
Regiocrella
Rotiferophthora
Samsoniella
Samuelsia
Simplicillium
Sorosporella
Sphaerocordyceps
Spicaria
Stilbella
Sungia
Syngliocladium
Synnematium
Synsterigmatocystis
Tettigorhyza
Tilachlidiopsis
Tolypocladium
TorrubiaTorrubiella
Torrubiellomyces
Trichosterigma
Tritirachium
Tyrannicordyceps
Yosiokobayasia
Though many of the above genera have been suppressed, and combined into other genera, not all of their members have found homes in currently valid genera, and remain incertae sedis. Additionally, the above taxa do not together form a monophyletic clade and do not constitute a single taxon. Also important to note is that not all members of the abovementioned genera would be considered part of the Cordyceps s.l. It is sometimes difficult to determine even to which family a Cordyceps specimen belongs, and only the broad classification of order Hypocreales (most of the members of which would not be considered Cordyceps s.l.) can be the consensus taxon. Thus, a project to link the Cordyceps s.l. is needed.
A few seminal publications on Cordyceps taxonomy include:
Araújo, J. P., et al. (2020). Zombie-ant fungi cross continents: II. Myrmecophilous hymenostilboid species and a novel zombie lineage. Mycologia, 112(6), 1138-1170.
Araújo, J. P., et al. (2018). Zombie-ant fungi across continents: 15 new species and new combinations within Ophiocordyceps. I. Myrmecophilous hirsutelloid species. Studies in Mycology, 90, 119-160.
Kepler, R. M.et al. (2017). A phylogenetically-based nomenclature for Cordycipitaceae (Hypocreales). IMA fungus, 8(2), 335.
Kepler, R. M., et al. (2014). Clarification of generic and species boundaries for Metarhizium and related fungi through multigene phylogenetics. Mycologia, 106(4), 811-829.
Luangsa-ard, J. J., (2017). Clavicipitaceous entomopathogens: New species in Metarhizium and a new genus Nigelia. Mycological progress, 16(4), 369-391.
Mains, E. B. (1958). North American entomogenous species of Cordyceps. Mycologia, 50(2), 169-222.
Chicago
Mongkolsamrit, S., Khonsanit, A., Thanakitpipattana, D., Tasanathai, K., Noisripoom, W., Lamlertthon, S., ... & Luangsa-ard, J. (2020). Revisiting Metarhizium and the description of new species from Thailand. Studies in Mycology.
Quandt, C. A., et al. (2014). Phylogenetic-based nomenclatural proposals for Ophiocordycipitaceae (Hypocreales) with new combinations in Tolypocladium. IMA fungus, 5(1), 121-134.
Sung, G. H., et al. (2007). Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi. Studies in mycology, 57, 5-59.
Wang, Y. B., et al. (2020). Multigene phylogeny of the family Cordycipitaceae (Hypocreales): new taxa and the new systematic position of the Chinese cordycipitoid fungus Paecilomyces hepiali. Fungal Diversity, 1-46.
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North American Cordyceps sensu lato
richtehan
created this project on January 11, 2020
