Purpureocillium zongqii W. H. Chen, Y. F. Han & J. D. Liang 2024, sp. nov.

Purpureocillium zongqii W. H. Chen, Y. F. Han & J. D. Liang sp. nov. Fig. 3 Etymology. In honor of Prof. Zongqi Liang, for his support and guidance in arthropod pathogenic fungi research. Type. China • Guizhou Province, Guiyang, Kaiyang County, Monkey-Ear Tiankeng (27°5'12.138"N, 107°0'48.42"E), soil, 19 July 2023, Wanhao Chen, GZAC TK 04 (dried holotype), ex-type TK 041. Description. Colonies on PDA, attaining a diameter of 23–25 mm after 14 days at 25 ° C, white, consisting of a basal felt, floccose hyphal overgrowth, white; reverse yellowish. Hyphae septate, hyaline, smooth-walled, 1.1–1.9 μm wide. Conidiophores 9.3–12.7 × 2.1–2.4 μm, erect, hyaline, verticillately branched, with 1–4 phialides. Phialides 6.8–11.7 × 2.6–4.0 μm, hyaline, cylindrical at base, gradually tapering near the apex. Conidia 2.7–4.2 × 2.0–2.4 μm, hyaline, smooth-walled, thin-walled, ellipsoidal, unicellular, acuminate, arranged in chains not observed. Substrate. Soil. Distribution. Kaiyang County, Guizhou Province, China. Additional strain examined. China • Guizhou Province, Guiyang, Kaiyang County, Monkey-Ear Tiankeng (27°5'12.138"N, 107°0'48.42"E), soil, 19 July 2023, Wanhao Chen, TK 042 (living culture). Notes. Purpureocillium zongqii was easily identified as Purpureocillium, based on the BLASTn result in NCBI. Phylogenetic analyses show that P. zongqii has a close relationship to P. lilacinum (Fig. 1). However, P. zongqii was easily distinguished from P. lilacinum (conidiophores: 4–6 × 3–4 μm; conidia: ellipsoidal to fusiform, 2–3 × 2–4 μm; phialide, 6–9 × 2.5–3 μm; purple colony) (Luangsa-ard et al. 2011) by its larger conidiophores, larger ellipsoidal conidia, larger phialide and white colony. Thus, the morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic results support P. zongqii as a new species.