Fireworks under the microscope: a spectacular new species of Zodiomyces from the Thaxter collection

Abstract

A new species of Zodiomyces (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) is described, Z. rhizophorus, parasitic on a hydrophilid beetle (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae) from Trinidad. This species was discovered during the examination of the slides of Laboulbeniales made by Roland Thaxter. It is characterized by numerous long, slender, multicellular and multiseriate outgrowths at the base of the receptacle. Thaxter’s outstanding illustrations have set a standard in the field of mycology; we provide a review of the methods he employed in the preparation of these illustrations.

• Hydrophilidae
• Laboulbeniales
• parasitic fungi
• taxonomy

Acknowledgments

We thank the Farlow Reference Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany for financial support of WR (Geneva Sayre Fund) and the Harvard Center for Biological Imaging at the Biological Laboratories for financial support to DH (Simmons Award). Lisa DeCesare, head of archives and public services at the Botany Libraries, Harvard University, is acknowledged for kind assistance.