Synonymy of Ejectosporus magnus and Simuliomyces spica, and a new species, Ejectosporus trisporus, from winter-emerging stoneflies

Abstract

The Trichomycete, Ejectosporus magnus, from Allocapnia spp. was determined to be a vegetative spore stage of another harpellid, Simuliomyces spica. A voucher slide of E. magnus made from a stonefly nymph that was part of the same collection as the holotype had thalli bearing trichospores of both E. magnus and S. spica. I conclude that these are one species; therefore Ejectosporus is emended and the species is treated as E. spica. Also, a new species, E. trisporus, is described from Allocapnia pygmaea (Plecoptera: Capniidae) collected in eastern Canada. This species has vegetative spores and trichospores with characteristics similar to E. spica, but the two species are separated by differences in zygospore sizes.

• gut fungi
• Harpellales
• symbiotic
• taxonomy
• trimorphic

The author thanks Dr R.W. Lichtwardt and Dr M.M. White, University of Kansas, for advice and encouragement as well as the loan of slides and for reviewing early versions of the manuscript and Dr D. Pfister, Farlow Herbarium, Harvard University, for assistance with the nomenclatural aspects in this paper. Thanks also to Carolyn Bird for preparing the Latin diagnosis. Type specimens for study were kindly provided by the Farlow Herbarium (FH). The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, Saint Mary’s University, provided financial support.