Ovicuculispora parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Etayo, Bull. Soc. Linn. Provence 61: 112. 2010. MycoBank MB 565895. Figs 3B, 4F.

Basionym: Diplodia parmeliae Berk. & M.A. Curtis, in Berkeley, Grevillea 3 (25): 3. 1874.

Synonyms: Diplodina parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Sacc., Syll. Fung. (Abellini) 3: 413. 1884.

Nectria parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) D. Hawksw., Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. 9 (1): 76. 1981.

Nectriopsis parmeliae (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) M.S. Cole & D. Hawksw., Mycotaxon 77: 321. 2001. Typus: USA, South Carolina, on Parmelia cf. rudecta Ach., M.A. Curtis Car. Inf. 1278 (holotype K, not examined)

Nectria heterospora Speg., Boln Acad. nac. Cienc. Córdoba 11 (4): 523. 1889.

Cucurbitaria heterospora (Speg.) Kuntze, Revis. gen. pl. (Leipzig) 3 (3): 461. 1898. Typus: Brazil, Apiahy, on Lobaria sp., 1881/86, J. Puiggari 126 (lectotype LPS 1.585ª, not examined).

Nectria diplocarpa Ellis & Everh., Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 42: 244. 1890.

Cucurbitaria diplocarpa (Ellis & Everh.) Kuntze, Revisio generum plantarum 3 (3): 461. 1898.

Typus: USA, New York, Farmington, on Physcia cf. aipolia, Dec. 1888, E. Brown 17 (holotype NY, not examined) .

Ascomata perithecioid, globose, scattered or in group 2–5 ascomata, pale to medium pink to orange, mostly covered by hyphae, which produce a whitish to pinkish tomentum at the lower part, collapsed when dry, 200–350 μm in diam. Ascomatal wall composed of 5–7 layers of radially compressed pseudoparenchymatous thick-walled cells, KOH–. Asci broadly clavate, normally with 1 macrospore, and 3–4 microspores, 50–70 × 10–15 μm (n = 8). Macrospores hyaline, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, 1-septate, rarely 2-septate, not constricted to constricted at the septa, with round ends, smooth-walled, (40.0–)44.2–56.5(–64.0) × (16.5–)19.0–25.2(–29.5) μm (n = 50), 1/b (1.7–)1.9–2.5(– 3.2); microspores ellipsoid, hyaline, 1-septate, not constricted at the septa, verruculose, (8.5–)9.2–12.2(–13.8) × (3.8–)4.2– 5.4(–6.2) μm (n = 80), 1/b (1.5–)1.9–2.3(–2.7).

Distribution, habitat and host range: Ovicuculispora parmeliae seems to be a cosmopolitan generalist species found on various distantly related lichen genera from families Candelariaceae, Cladoniaceae, Graphidaceae, Lecanoraceae, Pannariaceae, Parmeliaceae, Physciaceae and Teloschistaceae (e.g. Etayo 2010, Tadome & Ohmura 2021).

Specimens examined: Bolivia, Cochabamba Department, Tiraque Province, Carrasco National Park, Camino de los Nubes, Antenas Sillar-Villa Tunari old road, 17º12’29”S, 65º41’24”W, 3591 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs, on Sticta sp. , 30 Nov. 2014, A. Flakus 26009 (KRAM L-74677, LPB), ibid., on Sticta sp., A. Flakus 26010 (KRAM L-74678, LPB); ibid., on Sticta sp. , A. Flakus 26011 (KRAM L-74679, LPB); La Paz Department, Murillo Province, Sainani, Valle del Zongo, 16º07’20”S, 68º05’09”W, 2220 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs and scattered trees, on Hypotrachyna sp. , 7 Dec. 2014, A. Flakus 26252 (LPB); Tarija Department, Aniceto Arce Province, Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve, between la Cumbre and camamento los Alisos, 22º01’02”S, 64º34’51”W, 2135 m a.s.l., Boliviano-Tucumano forest with Alnus acuminata and Polylepis, on Remototrachyna cf. costaricensis , 22 July 2015, A. Flakus 27067 (KRAM L-74680, LPB); ibid., 22º02’38”S, 64º35’47”W, 2460 m a.s.l., on Crocodia aurea , 22 July 2015, A. Flakus 27025 (LPB); ibid., 21º59’21”S, 64º36’52”W, 3040 m a.s.l., open area with shrubs and rocks, on Heterodermia sp. , 25 July 2015, A. Flakus 27227 (KRAM L-74682, LPB); Burnet O’Connor Province, Sandiego Sur, top of the hill on old road between Tarija and Entre Ríos, 21º27’04”S, 64º13’59”W, 1812 m a.s.l., Boliviano-Tucumano forest, on Punctelia sp. , 30 July 2015, J. Etayo 32636 (hb. Etayo, LPB ).

Notes: Ovicuculispora parmeliae is a quite variable species regarding to ascospore shape and host selection.Additionally, considerable variation in the size of macrospores has been reported (Hawksworth & Booth 1976, Etayo 2010, Zhurbenko 2014), even within a single specimen or population. This has raised many concerns about the species circumscription and the taxonomy based on macrospore features, distribution data and host selection (Hawksworth 1981, Flakus et al. 2006, Etayo 2010, Etayo & van den Boom 2013, Zhurbenko 2014, Tadome & Ohmura 2021).

During this study, we observed a huge variability within three specimens of Ovicuculispora parmeliae collected on Sticta sp. from the same locality. The macrospores exhibit a range of shapes and sizes, including: ellipsoid, 1-septate, not constricted at the septum, (41.0–)43.5–53.2(–61.0) × (16.5–)17.8–20.6(–22.8) μm (n = 25) in KRAM L-74677; ellipsoid, 1-septate, not constricted at the septum, (26.3–)30.8–42.3(– 48.2) × (12.2–)13.0–18.4(–23.8) (n = 25) in KRAM L-74678; broadly ellipsoid, 1(–2)-septate, constricted at the septum, (57.2–)65.5–80.8(–85.0) × (27.2–)32.2–36.6(–41.0) μm (n = 25) in KRAM L-74679. However, the ITS sequences generated for these abovementioned specimens showed 100 % identity and 99 % of similarity to other specimens growing on different hosts. Similar results were found in multi-gene phylogeny (Fig. 2), where the specimens on different hosts formed a single well-supported clade. However, to better understand the intraspecific variability of the species a larger sampling is needed.