Ophiocordyceps simaoensis Z. Q. Wang & Y. B. Wang 2026, sp. nov.

Ophiocordyceps simaoensis Z. Q. Wang & Y. B. Wang sp. nov. Fig. 2 Etymology. Referring to the location where the fungus was discovered. Type. China • Yunnan Province, Pu’er City, Simao District, Ancient Tea Horse Road. 22°50'N, 100°59'E, alt. 1534 m, on an adult of Gryllotalpa buried in soil. 03 Aug. 2025, Zhiqin Wang (holotype HKAS 126113, ex-type culture KUNCC 11568). Diagnosis. Similar to Ophiocordyceps fusiformis, but differs from it by producing smaller perithecia, asci, and ascospores. Its fertile parts are intermittent and irregular sheets distributed in the middle part of the stromata. Description. Stromata arising from dorsum or lateral side of insects buried in soil at a depth of about 8 cm. Stromata solitary, unbranched, cylindrical, flexible, leathery, 13–19 cm long, 0.8–1.5 mm wide, greyish white to yellowish brown, tapering abruptly toward the apex, with a blackish brown apex of 0.1–0.6 cm long. Fertile parts cylindrical, yellowish brown, 4.4–8.9 cm long, with intermittent and irregular sheets on the middle part of stromata, with a sterile apex of 3.2–4.6 cm. Perithecia pseudoimmersed, dense, vertically arranged, oval to oblong, 209–238 × 105–143 µm. Tip ostioles slightly protruding, yellowish brown at an early stage and blackish brown at maturity. Asci 8 - spored, filiform, hyaline, 61–103 × 2.9–7.4 µm, with a hemispheric apical cap of 3.6–5.1 × 1.9–2.6 µm. Ascospores filiform, multiseptate, hyaline, tapering at both ends, 42–52 × 2.2–2.9 µm, not breaking into secondary ascospores. Asexual morph: Undetermined. Cultural characteristics. Colonies on PDA grow slowly, reaching 3 mm in diameter about 50 days at 25 ° C, dark brown, with a layer of white mycelia covering the surface. Habitat. Parasitic on adults of Gryllotalpa (Gryllotalpidae, Orthoptera) buried in soil of the evergreen broad-leaved forests. Distribution. China, Yunnan Province, Pu’er City. Other material examined. China • Yunnan Province, Pu’er City, Simao District, Ancient Tea Horse Road. 22°50'N, 100°59'E, alt. 1531 m, on an adult of Gryllotalpa buried in soil. 03 Aug. 2025, Zhiqin Wang (HKAS 126114, paratype; KUNCC 11569, ex-paratype culture). Commentary. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the three samples of O. simaoensis were clustered as a distinct clade with a close relationship to O. longistipes and O. fusiformis (Fig. 1). However, these species differ in their host associations: O. simaoensis is parasitic on adults of Gryllotalpa, whereas O. longistipes and O. fusiformis are parasitic on termites. Morphologically, a key distinguishing feature is the position of perithecia: pseudoimmersed in O. simaoensis versus superficial in O. longistipes. Additionally, O. simaoensis has smaller perithecia (209–238 × 105–143 µm vs. 390–420 × 295–350 µm), shorter asci (61–103 × 2.9–7.4 µm vs. 160–195 × 4.5–6.5 µm), and shorter ascospores (42–52 × 2.2–2.9 µm vs. 70–85 × 3.5–4.5 µm) than O. longistipes (Fan et al. 2024). Similarly, O. simaoensis is distinguished from O. fusiformis by its pseudoimmersed perithecia, smaller perithecia, shorter asci and ascospores (Table 2).