The genus Gibellula on spiders from Taiwan

Disentangling the Taxonomy, Systematics, and Life History of the Spider-Parasitic Fungus Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales)

Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) is frequently observed growing on spiders, but little is known about their host range. One of the greatest challenges in describing these interactions is identifying the host, since the fungus often rapidly consumes the parasitised spiders and destroys important diagnostic taxonomic traits. Additionally, the global diversity of Gibellula remains unclear, as does the natural history and phylogenetic relationships of most of the species. Herein, we performed an extensive investigation on the species of Gibellula, reconstructed the most complete molecular phylogeny of the genus in the context of Cordycipitaceae, and performed a systematic review in order to provide the foundations towards a better understanding of the genus. Therefore, we have performed an integrative study to investigate the life history of the genus and to disentangle the questionable number of valid species proposed over time. We provided novel molecular data for published species that had not been sequenced before, such as G. mirabilis and G. mainsii, and evaluated all the original and modern morphological descriptions. In addition, we presented its global known distribution and compiled all available molecular data. We suggested a set of terms and morphological traits that should be considered in future descriptions of the genus and that a total of 31 species should be considered as accepted.

Morphological and molecular analyses reveal two new species of Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) from China

Gibellulapenicillioides sp. nov. and G.longispora sp. nov., two new species parasitising spiders collected in China, are illustrated and described, based on morphological features and multiloci phylogenetic analysis. The G.penicillioides sp. nov. group is sister to the G.scorpioides group, but form long penicilloid conidiophore producing enlarged fusiform conidia ((7-) 7.5-9 (-10) × 2.5-3.5 μm). G.longispora sp. nov. is sister to G.pigmentosinum, but has slender long conidia (5-7 × 1-2 μm); teleomorph and Granulomanus-synanamorphic conidiogenous cells are absent in these two species. Type specimens of G.penicillioides sp. nov. and G.longispora sp. nov. were deposited in the Anhui Agricultural University (RCEF). In addition, a key to all known species of Gibellula is illustrated.

Phylogeny- and morphology-based recognition of new species in the spider-parasitic genus Gibellula (Hypocreales, Cordycipitaceae) from Thailand

Thailand is known to be a part of what is called the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, hosting a vast array of organisms across its diverse ecosystems. This is reflected by the increasing number of new species described over time, especially fungi. However, a very few fungal species from the specialized spider-parasitic genus Gibellula have ever been reported from this region. A survey of invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in Thailand over several decades has led to the discovery of a number of fungal specimens with affinities to this genus. Integration of morphological traits into multi-locus phylogenetic analysis uncovered four new species: G.cebrennini, G.fusiformispora, G.pigmentosinum, and G.scorpioides. All these appear to be exclusively linked with torrubiella-like sexual morphs with the presence of granulomanus-like asexual morph in G.pigmentosinum and G.cebrennini. A remarkably high host specificity of these new species towards their spider hosts was revealed, and for the first time, evidence is presented for manipulation of host behavior in G.scorpioides.