Zodiomyces vorticellarius Thaxt.

MB#214003

Fig. 4E

Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 25: 263 (Thaxter 1891, as vorticellaria). –

Type: USA • “ Connecticut: West Haven, on Hydrocombus lacustris LeConte, May 1890, R. Thaxter, FH7117 [Holotype, see Santamaria 2004]”; FH.

Diagnostic features

Base of receptacle consisting only of an undivided basal cell (Fig. 4E, I). With buffer projections lateral to receptacle (Fig. 4E, bf). Perithecia bearing four thin, ligula-like protuberances. [Detailed descriptions: Thaxter 1896; Majewski 1994b]

Distribution and hosts

Hosts belong to Col. Hydrophilidae, usually Helochares Mulsant, 1844 in Europe, but on other continents also Cymbiodyta Bedel, 1881, Hydrobiomorpha Blackburn, 1888, Sternolophus Solier, 1842, and Enochrus. This species has been reported from few countries in Europe: France, Poland, Germany, Italy and Spain; America: USA, Cuba, Trinidad, Venezuela, Mexico, and Argentina; Africa: Cameroon; Asia: Korea (Santamaria 2004). Other records after are from Greece (Castaldo et al. 2004), Czech Republic (Rossi & Máca 2006), Belarus (Majewski 2008), Sweden (Huggert 2010), the Netherlands (Haelewaters et al. 2012), Turkey (Rossi 2016), United Kingdom (Bratton 2018), Bulgaria (Rossi et al. 2019a), and Belgium (De Kesel et al. 2020).

Collections examined from Denmark

On Helochares obscurus (Müller, 1776) (Col. Hydrophilidae)

DENMARK – Nordøstsjaelland (NEZ) • Heatherhill; 56°5.240′ N, 12°8.611′ E; UC21; 22 May 2016; JP 95; JP det.; ZMUC C-F-122570. – Nordvestsjaelland (NWZ) • Klintebjerg ved Klint; 55°57.294′ N, 11°34.169′ E; PH60; 1 Apr. 2017; JP 246; JP det.; ZMUC C-F-122726. – Sydsjaelland (SZ) • Bårse; 55°7.680′ N, 11°56.494′ E; PG81; 24 Aug. 2019; JP 1502; JP det.; ZMUC C-F-124089.

Remarks

First record from Denmark. The huge diversity of hosts and wide distribution of this species make us suspect that several cryptic species are involved.