Hypocreodendron sanguineum

ROMINA M. SÁNCHEZ

CÓRDOBA

Workshop; II Workshop de Listas Rojas de Hongos de Sudamérica; 2022

Fundación Fungi y Micolab Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina

Hypocreodendron sanguineum is saprobic on waste material of ant nests presumable of some species of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex. The fungus was found mostly related to waste piles outside the nests of ant species that live in areas with temperate to subtropical climates that go through a dryer stage during the year, and most of them in urban areas or near to urban areas. It was found in 20 sites, 14 of them in Mexico but it is distributed to Argentina. It is expected to occur along its host’s distribution where the ants show external refuse dumps, however with a long history of mycological studies in those places and with a striking appearance (stromata 2,5 cm high with a red apical disc) this fungus was recorded in Argentina only in two sites. Each site can host no more than 2-5 mature individuals resulting in a total estimated population size of 100 mature individuals. Also, the habitat of this fungus is under high levels of disturbance because of the destruction of the ant nests primarily by pesticides and secondarily by edification, human transit and firewalls.