Myrmecopterula nudihortorum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Pterulaceae
Genus: Myrmecopterula
Species:
M. nudihortorum
Binomial name
Myrmecopterula nudihortorum
(Dentinger) Leal-Dutra, Dentinger & G.W. Griff (2020)
Synonyms

Pterula nudihortorum Dentinger (2014)

Myrmecopterula nudihortorum is a species of fungus in the family Pterulaceae. It is associated with fungi cultivating ants of the genus Apterostigma.

Taxonomy

M. nudihortorum was originally classified as Pterula nudihortorum by the American mycologist Bryn Tjader Mason Dentinger in 2014.[1] Before being formally classified it was referred to in studies on fungus growing ants as ant cultivar G4 and was found in ant nests belonging to the Apterostigma manni subclade.[2]

It was placed in the new genus Myrmecopterula by the mycologists Caio A. Leal-Dutra, Bryn Tjader Mason Dentinger and Gareth W. Griffith in 2020.[2]

Description

Unlike M. velohortorum (G2) which is cultivated in veiled hanging gardens, M. nudihortorum is cultivated in spongelike masses on the bottom of the garden cavity either under logs or in cavities excavated in the ground. The garden is not enveloped in or suspended by a woven veil. This nest building behaviour is more similar to that of lower attine ants which engage in cultivation of Lepiotaceous fungi belonging to the G3 group. However only one species of Apterostigma, Apterostigma auriculatum was documented as cultivating the G3 fungus.[3][4]

Similar species

Myrmecopterula moniliformis and Myrmecopterula velohortorum are the only other named species belonging to the genus Myrmecopterula. These are also associated with cultivation by Apterostigma ants. Four other unnamed and poorly documented Myrmecopterula species are known.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Species Fungorum - Myrmecopterula nudihortorum". www.speciesfungorum.org. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Leal-Dutra, Caio A.; Griffith, Gareth W.; Neves, Maria Alice; McLaughlin, David J.; McLaughlin, Esther G.; Clasen, Lina A.; Dentinger, Bryn T. M. (December 2020). "Reclassification of Pterulaceae Corner (Basidiomycota: Agaricales) introducing the ant-associated genus Myrmecopterula gen. nov., Phaeopterula Henn. and the corticioid Radulomycetaceae fam. nov". IMA Fungus. 11 (1): 2. doi:10.1186/s43008-019-0022-6. ISSN 2210-6359. PMC 7325140. PMID 32617254.
  3. ↑ Villesen, Palle; Mueller, Ulrich G.; Schultz, Ted R.; Adams, Rachelle M. M.; Bouck, Amy C. (April 3, 2003). "Evolution of Ant-Cultivar Specialization and Cultivar Switching in Apterostigma Fungus-Growing Ants". Evolution. 58 (10): 2252–2265. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2004.tb01601.x. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 15562688. S2CID 202842261.
  4. ↑ Mueller, Ulrich G.; Rehner, Stephen A.; Schultz, Ted R. (1998-09-25). "The Evolution of Agriculture in Ants". Science. 281 (5385): 2034–2038. doi:10.1126/science.281.5385.2034. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9748164.
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