Ophiocordyceps variabilis (Petch) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, 2007

Zha, Ling-Sheng, Kryukov, Vadim Yu, Ding, Jian-Hua, Jeewon, Rajesh & Chomnunti, Putarak, 2021, Novel taxa and species diversity of Cordyceps sensu lato (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) developing on wireworms (Elateroidea and Tenebrionoidea, Coleoptera), MycoKeys 78, pp. 79-117 : 79

Ophiocordyceps variabilis (Petch) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora

Cordyceps variabilis ≡ Cordyceps variabilis Petch

Cordyceps viperina = Cordyceps viperina Mains

Hosts.

Xylophagidae larvae ( Diptera ) ( Hodge et al. 1998; Yaroslavtseva et al. 2019).

Known distribution.

China (Shaanxi),Europe, Russia (Far East, Western Siberia), North America ( Petch 1937; Liang 2007; Hodge et al. 1998; Yaroslavtseva et al. 2019).

Notes.

In early literature, O. variabilis was recorded on Coleoptera (e.g. Elateridae ) and Diptera larvae in rotten wood ( Petch 1937; Mains 1958; Liang 2007). Hodge et al. (1998) checked many samples and confirmed the hosts to be Xylophagidae larvae ( Diptera ). More than 40 samples of O. variabilis were collected in Russia (Far East, Western Siberia) and all of them developed on Xylophagidae larvae ( Yaroslavtseva et al. 2019; Kryukov et al., unpublished). Ecological habits and morphology of Xylophagidae larvae and wireworms are closely similar, but their last abdominal segments are distinctly different. As with O. ferruginosa listed above, we conclude that O. variabilis is not a pathogen of wireworms.