What's in a name? Aschersonia insperata: a new pleoanamorphic fungus with characteristics of Aschersonia and Hirsutella.

A new anamorphic species from a Philippine tropical forest occurs as reddish-orange to orange, tuberculate stromata on unidentified homopteran larvae, and produces both Aschersonia and Hirsutella-like synanamorphs. A molecular phylogenetic analysis was conducted to determine the most appropriate generic placement for this fungus. Based on its phylogenetic relationships, a comparison of the complexity and persistence of each anamorph, and the speculated relevance of each synanamorph to survival, we describe the new fungus as Aschersonia insperata sp. nov.