Peyritschiella hybrida (Thaxt.) I.I.Tav.

MB#105644

Fig. 67C–D

Mycologia Memoirs 9: 270 (Tavares 1985). – Basionym: Dichomyces hybridus Thaxt., Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 35: 423 (Thaxter 1900) [MB#243880]. –

Type: [Not designated] [Ind. loc.] “With both types of perithecia (the type form): on Philonthus aeneipennis Boh., Paris Museum, No. 203, Gulf of Oman, India; on Philonthus sp., British Museum, No. 366, Sylhet, Assam, India; Philonthus sp., Bengal, India, Berlin Museum, No. 825: P. Lewisius Shp., Japan, Sharp Coll., No. 1122; on Philonthus sp., British Museum, No. 368, Hong Kong, China ”; FH.

Diagnostic features

Thallus symmetrical, up to 300 × 150 µm (length × width). Lower tier of cells blackened, almost entirely opaque except for the central area. Middle tier of cells blackened outwards; extending with laterally superposed cells forming strip-like expansions exceeding in length the upper part of the receptacle. Perithecia 2–6 in number; with the apices usually without auricles in Danish thalli. [Detailed descriptions: Thaxter 1908; Terada 1976; Santamaria 1989]

Distribution and hosts

A species with a wide distribution. Known from Europe (Finland, Spain, United Kingdom), America (Grenada, USA), Asia (China, India, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan), Canary Islands and Madeira (Santamaria et al. 1991). Recently recorded from Cambodia (Try et al. 2017), and Thailand (Rossi & Bernardi 2018). Found on Philonthus and Spatulonthus (Col. Staphylinidae Staphylininae).

Collections examined from Denmark

On Philonthus discoideus (Gravenhorst, 1802) (Col. Staphylinidae Staphylininae) DENMARK – Nordøstsjaelland (NEZ) • Skaerød; 56°0.673′ N, 12°9.646′ E; UC21; 14 Jan. 2018; JP 958; JP det.; ZMUC C-F-123464 .

Remarks

First record from Denmark. This is not an easily recognizable species, it can only be identified with certainty when thalli show long lateral expansions of the first tier of cells in combination with a broad upper tier (Fig. 67C). Auriculate and not auriculate forms have been described, a detail that seems to be related with different growing locations of thalli on the host body (Try et al. 2017). The Danish material is very scarce and belongs to the non-auriculate form.