TY - JOUR T1 - Unravelling the diversity behind <em>Ophiocordyceps unilateralis</em> complex: Three new species of Zombie-Ant fungus from Brazilian Amazon JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/003806 SP - 003806 AU - João P. M. Araújo AU - Harry C. Evans AU - David M. Geiser AU - David P. Hughes Y1 - 2014/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/04/03/003806.abstract N2 - In Tropical forests, one of the most common relationships between parasites and insects occur between the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) and ants, especially attacking species within the tribe Camponotini. These fungus have the ability to penetrate through the host’s cuticle and manipulate their behavior, making them leave their nests to die biting onto an elevated leaf, in order to facilitate the fungus development and further spore discharge. Despite their importance for the ecosystem maintenance, this group of fungal pathogens is still poorly documented regarding their diversity, ecology and evolutionary relationships. The three species documented here could be readily separate based in macroscopic features such as ascospores, external morphology and hosts. In addition, we provide the phylogenetic relationships between them, close related species and members of the Ophiocordycipitaceae family. ER -