New pyrenocarpous lichens from NE Argentina

Five new species of corticolous pyrenocarpous lichens are described from tropical and subtropical forests in the Chaco and Misiones provinces in NE Argentina: Aspidothelium submuriforme with globose, grey ascomata and ascospores mostly 7-septate with 0–2 oblique longitudinal septa, 25–28 8–10 mm; Pyrenula inspersoleucotrypa, characterized by a thallus without pseudocyphellae, aggregated ascomata, an inspersed hamathecium, and ascospores of 17–20 65–80 mm with diamond-shaped lumina; Pyrenula punctoleucotrypa, which has a thallus with pseudocyphellae, aggregated ascomata in a conical pseudostroma, with fused ostioles, not inspersed hamathecium, and ascospores of 10–12 4–5 mm with rounded lumina; Strigula muriconidiata, containing immersed pycnidia with hyaline, densely muriform, ellipsoid conidia, 90–103 32–35 mm; Trypethelium globolucidum, forming sessile pseudostromata with black and whitish parts, an inspersed hamathecium, ascospores 13–19-septate, (65–)83–97 115–145 mm, lumina rounded to lentiform and containing lichexanthone.Fil: Aptroot, André. ABL Herbarium; Países BajosFil: Ferraro, Lidia Itati. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (i); ArgentinaFil: da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia . Universidade Federal de Sergipe; Brasi

Malmographina, a new genus for Graphina malmei (Ascomycota: Ostropales: Graphidaceae)

The new genus Malmographina Cáceres, Rivas Plata & Lücking is introduced for Opegraphaplicosa Meissn. (syn.Graphis malmei Redinger), with the new combination Malmographina plicosa(Meiss.) Cáceres, Rivas Plata & Lücking. The taxon is characterized by prominent, striate, orange-pigmented, non-carbonized lirellae, a more or less clear hymenium, and large, muriform, hyaline ascospores. Malmographina is most similar to Hemithecium in lirellae morphology and anatomy, but in a molecular phylogenetic analysis falls within a clade containing Phaeographis and other genera with usually inspersed hymenium and brown ascospores. Within that clade, it is thus far the only taxon that has persistently hyaline ascospores. It is otherwise similar to Pallidogramme but does not cluster within that genus. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the Phaeographis clade confirms monophyly of the genera Halegrapha, Pallidogramme, and Platygramme, and suggests that Phaeographis should be divided into several generic lineages and that Leiorreuma and Sarcographa perhaps be merged

The saxicolous and terricolous lichens of northeastern Brazil, with special reference to the Vale do Catimbau in Pernambuco

The saxicolous and terricolous lichen biota of the Vale do Catimbau in Pernambuco state (Brazil) was studied and with 74 species found to be relatively rich. Most species are new to the state and five are new to Brazil, viz. Andreiomyces ob­ tusatica (Tønsberg) B.P. Hodk. & Lendemer, Caloplaca brittonii (Zahlbr.) Aptroot, Candelariella rosulans (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr., Clavascidium antillarum (Breuss) Breuss, and Stromatella bermudana (Riddle) Henssen. In addition, some new state records were found of corticolous and lignicolous lichens. A comparison is made with all other places in northeastern Brazil where saxicolous lichens have been studied. For this, the Serra de Itabaiana in Sergipe state was revisited too, and many additional species were recorded there. All places differ markedly in species composition. This seems to be correlated to altitude, biome, and rock type (sandstone versus granite), with the biome mostly influencing the species composition and the altitude the species richness. Some of the species newly reported from Brazil are so far known from the Antilles and there seems to be some resemblance between these lichen biotas

New lichen fungi from a small fragment of the vanishing Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil

In the frame of an ongoing lichen inventory of Atlantic Rainforest remnants in Northeast Brazil, five new species of Graphidaceae were discovered in a small forest fragment, Mata do Cipó, in Sergipe state, the smallest state of Brazil and among those with the highest deforestation rate in the country. An additional new species had already been collected in Panama before and was now also found in the Mata do Cipó and is described here as well. In total, 40 species of Graphidaceae are reported for this remnant, including a large number of taxa indicative of well-preserved rainforest. The new species are: Fissurina atlantica T.A. Pereira, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., Graphis subaltamirensis Passos, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., Ocellularia cipoensis L.A. Santos, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., O. sosma T.A. Pereira, M. Cáceres & Lücking, sp. nov., O. submordenii Lücking, sp. nov. (also known from Panama), and Pseudochapsa aptrootiana M. Cáceres, T.A. Pereira & Lücking, sp. nov. The findings are discussed in the context of the strong fragmentation of the Atlantic Rainforest, with individual remnants apparently serving as refugia for residual populations of rare species of lichen fungi that were more widely distributed in the past, but currently seem to occur only in isolated fragments

Richness of Lichens Consumed by Constrictotermes cyphergaster in the Semi-arid Region of Brazil

The consumption of lichens by Constrictotermes cyphergaster termites is suggested in the literature, but not yet with concrete evidence. We examined the use and richness of lichens consumed by C. cyphergaster during both the dry and rainy seasons in a semiarid environment in northeastern Brazil by monitoring the foraging of five termite colonies for ten consecutive days during each period. Twenty-nine species of corticolous lichens were consumed by C. cyphergaster, with seasonal variations in the richness of their ingestion. Chrysothrix xanthine, Pertusaria flavens, and Dirinaria confluens were the lichen species most consumed. TLC analyzes of termite gut contents revealed twelve secondary lichen compounds ingested in both seasons, while staining showed fragments of fungal hyphae, green algae, and typical lichen spores. This study represents the first systematic survey of the abundances of lichens that compose the diet of C. cyphergaster and indicates the seasonal selectivity of that resource related to the chemical compositions of the lichen stalks

Funga Capixaba: Ascomycota and lichen-forming fungi

Abstract The “Funga Capixaba” have been overlooked for a very long time, leading to a gap in the local mycological knowledge. In order to create a preliminary and updated list of Ascomycetes and lichen-forming fungi from Espírito Santo state, Brazil we reviewed all specimens deposited in the VIES Herbarium and key references of former mycological studies. In our list, we report a total of 528 species belonging to 173 genera and 65 families. 422 are new records for Espírito Santo state, six species, Mazaediothecium uniseptatum, Cratiria chloraceus, Lecanora glaucoidea, Pyrenula montocensis, and P. oleosa, are new records both for the neotropics and Brazil, and Lobariella pseudocrenulata is also new to Brazil. We have increased the number of accepted macrofungi species names from 85 to 528, which makes the Espírito Santo state the 10th highest in terms of known fungal diversity among Brazilian states. An updated and preliminary list of macroscopic Ascomycota including lichen-forming fungi from Espírito Santo, comments, and a brief overview about the local mycology are provided