Cordyceps

genus of fungi

Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) with about 400 species. Most Cordyceps species are parasitoids. They live on and in insects and other arthropods. A few are parasitic on other fungi. The name Cordyceps is taken from the Greek word κορδύλη kordýlē, meaning "club", and the Latin stem -ceps, meaning "head".

Cordyceps
Cordyceps militaris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Cordycipitaceae
Genus: Cordyceps
Fr. (1818)
Type species
Cordyceps militaris
(L.) Fr. (1818)
Species[1]
List of species
  • Cordyceps acridophila
  • Cordyceps albocitrina
  • Cordyceps amoene -rosea
  • Cordyceps ampullacea
  • Cordyceps bifusispora
  • Cordyceps blackwelliae
  • Cordyceps brasiliensis
  • Cordyceps cateniannulata
  • Cordyceps cateniobliqua
  • Cordyceps chiangdaoensis
  • Cordyceps cicadae
  • Cordyceps coccidioperitheciata
  • Cordyceps coleopterorum
  • Cordyceps confragosa
  • Cordyceps cuncunae
  • Cordyceps cylindrica
  • Cordyceps farinosa
  • Cordyceps fratricida
  • Cordyceps fumosorosea
  • Cordyceps ghanensis
  • Cordyceps grylli
  • Cordyceps guangdongensis
  • Cordyceps gunnii
  • Cordyceps gunnii var. minor
  • Cordyceps henleyae
  • Cordyceps hepialidicola
  • Cordyceps hesleri
  • Cordyceps ignota
  • Cordyceps imagamiana
  • Cordyceps isarioides
  • Cordyceps javanica
  • Cordyceps kirkii
  • Cordyceps koreana
  • Cordyceps kurijimeansis
  • Cordyceps kyushuensis
  • Cordyceps lepidopterorum
  • Cordyceps locusticola
  • Cordyceps locustiphila
  • Cordyceps memorabilis
  • Cordyceps militaris
  • Cordyceps morakotii
  • Cordyceps nakazawai
  • Cordyceps nidus
  • Cordyceps ninchukispora
  • Cordyceps ningxiaensis
  • Cordyceps nirtolii
  • Cordyceps ochraceostromata
  • Cordyceps pleuricapitata
  • Cordyceps polyarthra
  • Cordyceps poprawskii
  • Cordyceps pruinosa
  • Cordyceps pseudonelumboides
  • Cordyceps rosea
  • Cordyceps roseostromata
  • Cordyceps scarabaeucika
  • Cordyceps sinensis See Ophiocordyceps sinensis.
  • Cordyceps spegazzinii
  • Cordyceps sphingum
  • Cordyceps submilitaris
  • Cordyceps taishanensis
  • Cordyceps takaomontana
  • Cordyceps tenuipes
  • Cordyceps unilateralis See Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.

The genus has a worldwide distribution. Most of the 400 species which have been described come from Asia Nepal, China, Japan, Bhutan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.[2] Cordyceps species are particularly abundant and diverse in humid temperate and tropical forests.

Ascomycete life cycle
A member of the genus Cordyceps which is parasitic on arthropods. Note the elongated stromata

References

change
  1. "Cordyceps". NCBI taxonomy. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  2. Sung Gi-Ho; et al. (2007). "Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi". Stud Mycol. 57 (1): 5–59. doi:10.3114/sim.2007.57.01. PMC 2104736. PMID 18490993.