Abstract
The genus Thecotheus is reported in Australia for the first time. A new species, Thecotheus urinamans is described and illustrated and included in a key to all known species of the genus. Critical macro- and micromorphological comparisons are presented to distinguish the new species from several closely related species, particularly the widespread fungus Thecotheus crustaceus. Thecotheus urinamans was growing on rotting, moist, plant litter from an experimental plot treated with urea (ammonia) in the indigenous jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia.
We gratefully thank Prof. J. W. Kimbrough for loan of materials in the University of Florida Herbarium (FLAS), Ms. A.-L. Anderberg in the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and Dr. R. Fogel at the University of Michigan for sending type specimens on loan. This work was supported financially by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Bilateral Exchange Program (Australia) and Australian Academy of Science (AAS) (Fiscal 1996). We are grateful to Alcoa World Alumina Australia for its support and making the experimental sites available.