Thitarodes shambalaensis sp. nov. (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae): a new host of the caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis supported by genome-wide SNP data

By

Wang, Zhengyang
Zhuang, Hailing
Wang, Min
Pierce, Naomi

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

885

Pages

89--113

Subjects

caterpillar fungus , China , Kangding , Mt. Gongga , new species , Phylogeny , RAD-seq , Sichuan

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.885.34638

 

Abstract

A new species of ghost moth,Thitarodes shambalaensissp. nov., is described from Yanzigou glacier, Mt. Gongga, Sichuan, China. The species is a host of the economically important caterpillar fungusOphiocordyceps sinensis. Establishment of this new species is supported by morphology and genetic differentiation measured in a CO1 phylogeny and in genome-wide SNP coverage. A summary tree from 538 sequences of different genetic markers fromThitarodes(including sequences extracted from caterpillar fungus sclerotium samples) support the genusThitarodesas a monophyletic group, and indicate thatThitarodesis the host genus forO. sinensis. Sampling efforts so far have centered on half of the known phylogenetic diversity ofThitarodes, with some species-level clusters (separated by < 2.5% genetic distance) containing 17 described species. Fifteen clusters are known from either a single “orphan taxon” or a single sequence from a caterpillar fungus sclerotium sample. We provide suggestions for building a more robust phylogeny of the genusThitarodesand highlight some of the conservation threats that species from this genus face due to unprecedented habitat exploitation.