There is gold in the graveyard: a new lineage of zombie-ant fungi in the genus Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae: Hypocreales) from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Abstract

Ophiocordyceps serves as a key model for studying cryptic fungal diversity and behavioural manipulation of hymenopterous insects. Here, we describe Ophiocordyceps acanthoponerae, a newly discovered species infecting Acanthoponera mucronata (Heteroponerini: Formicidae) in a Brazilian Atlantic rainforest-Cerrado ecotone. Morphological analyses revealed mixed traits characteristic of Ophiocordyceps lineages associated with ants and wasps, including leaf biting behaviour manipulation, dark brown ascostromata covering 360º of the stalk, ascospores producing capilliconidia and hirsutelloid asexual morphs. Phylogenetic analyses based on four genomic regions (SSU, LSU, TEF and RPB1) placed this species outside the traditional myrmecophilous hirsutelloid clades O. unilateralis and O. kniphofioides, and within a novel clade closely related to the wasp pathogen O. humbertii. This discovery represents the first record of Ophiocordyceps infecting Heteroponerini and highlights an unexplored lineage of manipulative fungi. Our findings expand the known host range for myrmecophilous Ophiocordyceps and underscore the importance of studying fungal diversity in under-sampled ecological niches. Citation: Lima-Santos SJ, Araújo JPM, Feitosa RM, Mendes-Pereira T, Elliot SL, Evans HC (2025). There is gold in the graveyard: a new lineage of zombie-ant fungi in the genus Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae: Hypocreales) from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 16: 243-264. doi: 10.3114/fuse.2025.16.14.