Two new species of ectoparasitic microfungi within the Hesperomyces virescens complex from Algeria, Italy, and Malaysia.

Arthropods are hosts to a variety of parasitic fungi, including those within the order of Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniomycetes). Species in the genus Hesperomyces are specialized in growing on ladybirds (Coccinellidae). Recent studies have uncovered multiple cryptic species within the Hesperomyces virescens species complex. They found that these species are segregated not only by host, but also by a geographic component. Here, we describe two new species in this species complex, based on morphological, molecular phylogenetic, ecological, and geographical evidence: Hesperomyces chilocori-bipustulati sp. nov. on Chilocorus bipustulatus from the Mediterranean region, and He. coccinellae-transversalis sp. nov. on Coccinella transversalis from Peninsular Malaysia. Hesperomyces chilocori-bipustulati is the second species known to associate with a representative of the genus Chilocorus, after He. virescens sensu stricto which was described from Ch. stigma from the USA. The findings of this paper contribute to our understanding of the diversity, host specificity, and biogeographical distribution within the Hesperomyces virescens species complex and highlight the need for further integrative taxonomy approaches in Laboulbeniales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]