Ophiocordyceps sinensis, known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan, India, and Nepal. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which is valued in traditional Chinese medicine as an aphrodisiac. Caterpillar fungus contains the compound cordycepin, an adenosine derivative. However, the fruiting bodies harvested in nature usually contain high amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals, so they are potentially toxic and sales have been strictly regulated by China's State Administration for Market Regulation since 2016.
Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 600 worldwide species. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine. Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods ; a few are parasitic on other fungi.
Beauveria bassiana is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and acts as a parasite on various arthropod species, causing white muscardine disease; it thus belongs to the group of entomopathogenic fungi. It is used as a biological insecticide to control a number of pests, including termites, thrips, whiteflies, aphids and various beetles. Its use in the control of bed bugs and malaria-transmitting mosquitos is under investigation.
The Hypocreales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. In 2008, it was estimated that it contained some 237 genera, and 2647 species in seven families. Since then, a considerable number of further taxa have been identified, including an additional family, the Stachybotryaceae. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added more families and genera to the order. According to the Catalog of Life, As of April 2021 the Hypocreales contains 6 families, 137 genera, and 1411 species. Hyde et al. (2020a) listed 14 families under Hypocreales, while, Wijayawardene et al. (2022) accepted 15 families in the order, where Cylindriaceae was additionally added. Earlier, Hyde et al. (2020a) had placed Cylindriaceae in class Xylariomycetidae. Samarakoon et al. (2022) agreed. Hence, Cylindriaceae should have been excluded from Hypocreales and placed in Xylariomycetidae. Xiao et al. (2022) recently introduced a new family Polycephalomycetaceae to Hypocreales.
Metarhizium robertsii is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasitoid. It is a mitosporic fungus with asexual reproduction, which was formerly classified in the form class Hyphomycetes of the phylum Deuteromycota.
Paecilomyces is a genus of fungi. A number of species in this genus are plant pathogens.
The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family, but a study in 2020 has increased this number to 50.
Beauveria is a genus of asexually-reproducing fungi allied with the ascomycete family Cordycipitaceae. Its several species are typically insect pathogens. The sexual states (teleomorphs) of Beauveria species, where known, are species of Cordyceps.
LUBILOSA was the name of a research programme that aimed at developing a biological alternative to the chemical control of locusts. This name is an acronym of the French title of the programme: Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et les Sauteriaux. During its 13-year life, the programme identified an isolate of an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the genus Metarhizium and virulent to locusts, and went through all the necessary steps to develop the commercial biopesticide product Green Muscle based on its spores.
Metarhizium acridum is the new name given to a group of fungal isolates that are known to be virulent and specific to the Acrididea (grasshoppers). Previously, this species has had variety status in Metarhizium anisopliae ; before that, reference had been made to M. flavoviride or Metarhizium sp. describing an "apparently homologous and distinctive group" of isolates that were most virulent against Schistocerca gregaria in early screening bioassays.
Metarhizium majus is the name given to a group of fungal isolates that are known to be virulent against Scarabaeidae, a family of beetles. Previously, this species has had variety status in Metarhizium anisopliae and its name is derived from characteristically very large spores for the genus Metarhizium. There has been considerable interest in developing isolates of this species into mycoinsecticides: especially against the coconut and oil palm beetle pest Oryctes in SE Asia, the Pacific region and Africa.
Metacordyceps is a genus of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae. The anamorphs of Metacordyceps appear to include Metarhizium species.
Tolypocladium ophioglossoides, also known by two of its better known synonyms Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps ophioglossoides and commonly known as the goldenthread cordyceps, is a species of fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is parasitic on fruit bodies of the truffle-like Elaphomyces. The species is considered inedible, but is valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
Metarhizium brunneum is the re-instated name of a group of reassigned Metarhizium isolates, previously grouped in the species "Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae": based on a multigene phylogenetic approach using near-complete sequences from nuclear DNA. It is a mitosporic fungus with asexual reproduction, which was formerly classified in the form class Hyphomycetes of the form phylum Deuteromycota. M. brunneum has been isolated from Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and soil samples, but a commercially developed isolate (below) has proved virulent against Hemiptera and Thysanoptera.
The Cordycipitaceae are a family of parasitic fungi in the Ascomycota, class Sordariomycetes and order Hypocreales. The family was first published in 1969 by mycologist Hanns Kreisel, but the naming was invalid according to the code of International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. It was validly published in 2007.
Isaria is a genus of fungi mostly in the order Hypocreales and family Clavicipitaceae, or by some authorities the Cordycipitaceae. It includes a large number of entomopathogenic species, some of them exploited as biopesticides : often previously assigned to the genus Paecilomyces.
Metarhizium rileyi is a species of entomopathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae. This species is known to infect Lepidoptera, including economically important insects in the Noctuoidea and Bombycoidea; there is an extensive literature on this fungus under its synonym Nomuraea rileyi.
Metarhizium anisopliae is the type species in its genus of fungi, that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasitoid. Ilya I. Mechnikov named it Entomophthora anisopliae (basionym) after the insect species from which it was originally isolated – the beetle Anisoplia austriaca and from these early days, fungi such as this have been seen as potentially important tools for pest management. It is a mitosporic fungus with asexual reproduction, which was formerly classified in the form class Hyphomycetes of the phylum Deuteromycota.
Cordyceps locustiphila is the basionym and teleomorph of the fungi Beauveria locustiphila, a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae. and is a species within the genus Cordyceps. It was originally described in by Henn in 1904. C. locustiphila is an entomopathogen and obligate parasite of the grasshopper species within the genus Colpolopha or Tropidacris, and as such is endemic to South America. The scientific name is derived from its close relationship with its host, being named after locusts. The fungi was renamed to Beauveria locustiphila in 2017 following research into the family Cordycipitaceae. Following the loss of the species type specimen, new studies were conducted that now recommend that the fungi be divided into 3 species. C. locustiphila, C. diapheromeriphila, and C. acridophila.
Cordyceps gunni is a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae, and is of the genus Cordyceps. It was originally found and recorded by Gunn in Tasmania and named as Sphaeria gunnii and later moved into the Cordyceps genus and renamed Cordyceps gunnii. This fungus and its sisters in the genus Cordyceps are known for growing out of insect bodies. C. gunnii can be found at ground level poking out of caterpillar burrows, attached to a caterpillar's head.
