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Diploicia edulis (Caliciaceae) and Physcia ornamentalis (Physciaceae), two new species associated with invertebrates from the tropical dry forest of Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2025

Ricardo Miranda-González*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Liquenología Tropical, Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Felipe Campos-Cerda
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Biology Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97405, USA Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
María de los Angeles Herrera-Campos
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Líquenes, Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
*
Corresponding author: Ricardo Miranda-González; Email: ricardo.miranda@ib.unam.mx

Abstract

Two new species in the genera Diploicia and Physcia are described from the tropical dry forest of Mexico. Both species are supported by morphological, chemical and molecular evidence. Diploicia edulis, a species heavily consumed by invertebrates, is characterized by lecanorine apothecia, a dull brown epihymenium not diffused by a green pigment (K−), a subhymenium conspicuously inspersed with oil droplets, and the diploicin chemosyndrome. We provide the first molecular evidence to support the inclusion of species with lecanorine apothecia in the genus Diploicia. Physcia ornamentalis, previously reported under the name Physcia undulata s. lat. as one of the main construction materials for the bags of a moth caterpillar species (Psychidae), is characterized by a frosted-pruinose thallus, soralia originating in the lobe sinuses, and by lacking soralia in the thalline margin of the apothecia.

Information

Type
Standard Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The British Lichen Society
Figure 0

Table 1. GenBank Accession numbers of new sequences generated in this study. – indicates missing data. * indicates holotypes. All samples are from Mexico (all specimens are deposited in MEXU).

Figure 1

Figure 1. Phylogeny of the genus Diploicia based on a maximum likelihood (ML) analysis of the genetic markers nuITS and mtSSU. Support values are shown as numbers if ML bootstrap values are ≥ 70 and as bold branches if Bayesian posterior probabilities are ≥ 0.95. Bold names show new sequences from this study and * indicates sequences from the type collection. The name of each terminal branch includes GenBank numbers of nuITS/mtSSU with – indicating missing data.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Phylogeny of selected Physcia species based on a maximum likelihood (ML) analysis of the genetic marker nuITS. Support values are shown as numbers if ML bootstrap values are ≥ 70 and as bold branches if Bayesian posterior probabilities are ≥ 0.95. Bold names show new sequences from this study and * indicates sequences from the type collection. The name of each terminal branch includes GenBank numbers of nuITS.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Diploicia edulis. A–C & E, habit showing placodioid thalli, lecanorine apothecia and abundant pycnidia. D, Dirinaria-type ascospores. F, subhymenium treated with KOH and showing abundant oil droplets (arrow). G, section of a mature apothecium. A, B, D, F & G, R. Miranda-González 6011 (holotype, MEXU). C, R. Miranda-González 5208 (MEXU). E, R. Miranda-González 6012 (MEXU). Scales: A–C & E = 1 mm; D = 5 μm; F = 20 μm; G = 100 μm. In colour online.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Physcia ornamentalis. A & B, habit showing thallus with abundant pruina, apothecia and soralia. C, in situ use of P. ornamentalis (arrow) for bag construction by a Psychidae caterpillar. D, young thallus growing on a piece of flagging showing soralia originating from the lobe sinuses (arrow). E, ascospores showing an intermediate form between Physcia and Pachysporaria-type. F, lower surface uniformly white. G, old thallus showing abundant apothecia and lacking soralia. A, B, E & F, R. Miranda-González 5029 (holotype, MEXU). C, R. Miranda-González 18-2 (MEXU). D, F. Campos-Cerda s. n. (MEXU); G, M. A. Herrera-Campos et al. 2008 288-58 (MEXU). Scales: A–D & G = 1 mm; E = 10 μm; F = 0.5 mm. In colour online.

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