A new Chionosphaera species associated with conifer inhabiting bark beetles

An undescribed species of the heterobasidiomycetous genus Chionosphaera is carried by the bark beetles Dryocoetus autogrphus, Hylurgops palliatus, Ips neuminatus Ips secdentatus Ills typographus, Orthotomicus laricis, Pityogenes chalcographus, Pityokteines spinidens, and Polygraphus poligraphus infesting conifers in Europe (Abies alba, Larix decidua, Picea abies, and Pinus sylvestris), Chionosphaera cuniculicola sp. nov. differs morphologically from C. apobasidialis in the more slender basidiospores. The segregation of the two species is supported by comparison of partial sequences of the lame subunit of the ribosomal gene. Isotype material of Chionosphaera lichenicola was re-examined, In contrast to C. cuniculicola and C, apobasidialis, C. lichenicola exhibits clamps at the septa. Fibulostilbum phylacicola is considered as a clamp-bearing species of Chionosphaera.