Phylogenetic, ecological and morphological characteristics reveal two new spider-associated genera in Clavicipitaceae
Wan‐Hao Chen, Jian-Dong Liang, Xiuxiu Ren, Jiehong Zhao, Yanfeng Han, Zong-Qi Liang
Abstract
Clavicipitaceous fungi are pathogenic to scale insects, white flies and other insect orders. However, a few species are spider-associated. Two new genera from China, Neoaraneomyces and Pseudometarhizium , are described based on phylogenetic, ecological and morphological characteristics. Two spider-associated species, Neoaraneomyces araneicola , Pseudometarhizium araneogenum , and an insect-associated species Pseudometarhizium lepidopterorum are included. The morphological characteristics of paecilomyces-like conidiogenous structures, present in many insect/spiders associated species make species-level identifications difficult. A phylogenetic analysis of the combined dataset (ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TEF), placed the two new genera in Clavicipitaceae. The new spider-associated species may be the result of convergent evolution to adapt to the ecological environment and may have undergone host jumping or altered their nutritional preferences.