'Invertebrate-pathogenic fungi' are known from several taxonomic lineages of the Kingdom Fungi. In Thailand, most species we described are members of the families Clavicipitaceae, Cordycipitaceae and Ophiocordycipitaceae (Order Hypocreales, Ascomycota). Before 1989 less than ten ‘invertebrate-pathogenic fungi’ were reported from Thailand. Most of these were species that could be commonly found around the world as pathogens of insects in agricultural ecosystems. Species such as the ubiquitous Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae infect a wide range of invertebrate hosts.
The first reliably recorded species of ‘insect fungus’ from Thailand was reported by Petch (1932). This was Cordyceps gentilis on a hornet which was collected in July 1929 from ‘northern Siam’. Cordyceps gentilis is a close relative of Ophiocordyceps sphecocephala (which was the first species of Cordyceps to be recognized and illustrated by Father Torrubia from Cuba in 1754) and was considered a synonym by Hywel-Jones (1995). It was a further sixty years before a systematic survey of the insect fungi of Thailand was started. Purpureomyces khaoyaiensis (Cordyceps khaoyaiensis) and Blackwellomyces pseudomilitaris (Cordyceps pseudomilitaris) became the first new species of ‘insect fungi’ described from Thailand. After over two decades of forest survey and collecting there are now over 200 species reported from natural and community forests, as well as agricultural ecosystems in Thailand.
Jennifer Luangsa-ard