doi: 10.4489/KJM.2025.53.2.4 Citation BibTeX RIS Mendeley

First Report of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Cordyceps koratensis on Larvae of Lepidoptera in Korea

First Report of the Entomopathogenic Fungus Cordyceps koratensis on Larvae of Lepidoptera in Korea

• Donghun Kang (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Le Dinh Thao (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Anbazhagan Mageswari (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Jae Sung Lee (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Daseul Lee (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Jong Woo Park (Industrial Insect Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Pu Reun Kook (Industrial Insect Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)
• Seung-Beom Hong (Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, Agricultural Microbiology Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju 55365, Korea)

The genus Cordyceps, a group of entomopathogenic fungi, comprises approximately 750 identified species, mainly distributed in Asia, Europe, and North America. During our investigation in 2024, fungal strains were isolated from larvae of Lepidoptera infected with entomopathogenic fungi on a Perilla farm in Korea. Fungal strains from the infected larvae were isolated and identified as Cordyceps koratensis based on their morphological traits and multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), and the largest (RPB1) and second-largest (RPB2) subunits of RNA polymerase II loci. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. koratensis infection in Korea. These findings may support the development of biocontrol agents within the framework of eco-friendly pest management for C. koratensis.