This is a key to fertile specimens of all species of Bacidia, Bacidina, Bellicidia, Phyllopsora and Scutula known to occur in Italy (Nimis 2016), plus several taxa which are known from neighbouring countries (e.g. Nimis & al. 2018) and may occur in Italy, for a total of 42 infrageneric taxa.
The following genera are included:
1) Bacidia De Not. - The delimitation of this large genus originally including more than 200 species has been problematic for quite a long time. The molecular phylogeny published by Kistenich & al. (2016) shows that Bacidia should be restricted to the highly supported B. rosella-group. The B. coprodes-group has been revised by Llop & Ekman (2007) and Ekman (2014), the B. rosella-group in Europe by Llop & al. (2007); the species of the Iberian Peninsula were treated by Llop & Hladun (2002) and Llop (2007), those of the British Isles by Cannnon & al. (2021). North American species were treated by Ekman (1996).
2) Bacidina Vězda - This genus was introduced to include a number of species previously referred to Bacidia, some of which were already earlier put in separate genera like Lichingoldia and Woessia because of their long, curved conidia. Although not recognised as a genus until 1991, these species had been informally treated by various authors as the "Bacidia phacodes-group". In the single-marker phylogeny of Ekman (2001), Bacidina formed an unsupported, monophyletic group. However, some evidence has accumulated that the genus may have to be split into Bacidina s.str. and Woessia (Kistenich & al. 2018). Bacidina was recovered as non-monophyletic also in the consensus trees of Sérusiaux & al. (2012), Miadlikowska & al. (1848), Kistenich & al. (2018b), van den Boom & Alvarado (2019) and van den Boom & Magain (2020), in all cases without enough branch support to draw any robust conclusions. According to Ekman (2023), the currently available sequence data cannot distinguish between a monophyletic and a non-monophyletic Bacidina s.lat. Until now, altogether c. 70 species have been formally named in Bacidina. The recent paper by Ekman (2023) recognizes 28 species as being present in Scandinavia. In Italy the genus is still very poorly studied, and would be well-worthy of a thorough monograph.
3) Bellicidia Kistenich, Timdal, Bendiksby & S. Ekman - This small genus was segregated from Bacidia by Kistenich & al. (2018) on the basis of both morphological and molecular data. It has a solitary position on a strongly supported branch as sister to the rest of the Toninia-clade.
4) Phyllopsora Müll. Arg. - This pantropical and subtropical genus includes c. 55 species occurring in humid forests, primarily on bark, but also on decorticated wood, rock and bryophytes (Brako 1991). The genus is similar to Biatora, differing in the pubescent-squamulose thallus and in the slightly different ascus structure.
5) Scutula Tul. - This genus was treated by Triebel & al. (1997) and Wedin & al. (2007) to include a set of lichenicolous species. The association with Ramalinaceae was confirmed by Kistenich & al. (2018) who expanded the genus to include lichen-forming species without any obvious parasitic life-cycle stages.

References

Brako L. 1991. Phyllopsora (Bacidiaceae). Flora Neotropica, 55, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY. 66 pp.
Cannon P., Ekman S., Kistenich S., LaGreca S., Printzen C., Timdal E., Aptroot A., Coppins B., Fletcher A., Sanderson N., Simkin J. 2021. Lecanorales: Ramalinaceae, including the genera Bacidia, Bacidina, Bellicidia, Biatora, Bibbya, Bilimbia, Cliostomum, Kiliasia, Lecania, Megalaria, Mycobilimbia, Phyllopsora, Ramalina, Scutula, Thalloidima, Toninia, Toniniopsis and Tylothallia. Revisions of British and Irish Lichens, 11: 1-82.
Ekman S. 1996. The corticolous and lignicolous species of Bacidia and Bacidina in North America. Opera Botanica 127: 1-148.
Ekman S. 2001. Molecular phylogeny of the Bacidiaceae (Lecanorales, lichenized Ascomycota). Mycol. Res., 105, 7: 783-797.
Ekman S. 2014. The Bacidia coprodes group (Ramalinaceae, Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), with special reference to the species in Europe and North America. Phytotaxa, 191, 1: 66-80.
Ekman S. 2023. Four new and two resurrected species of Bacidina from Sweden, with notes and a preliminary key to the known Scandinavian species. Nordic J. Bot., https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03846
Kistenich S., Timdal E., Bendiksby M., Ekman S. 2018. Molecular systematics and character evolution in the lichen family Ramalinaceae (Ascomycota: Lecanorales). Taxon, 67, 5: 871-904.
Llop E. 2007b. Flora Liquenologica Iberica 3: Lecanorales: Bacidiaceae I: Bacidia y Bacidina. Soc. Española de Liquenologia. 49 pp.
Llop E., Ekman S. 2007. Bacidia coprodes, resurrecting a misinterpreted species. Lichenologist, 39, 3: 251-257.
Llop E., Ekman S., Hladun N. L. 2007. Bacidia tyrrhenica (Ramalinaceae, lichenized Ascomycota), a new species from the Mediterranean region, and a comparison of European members of the Bacidia rubella group. Nova Hedwigia, 85: 3-4: 445-455.
Miadlikowska J., Kauff F., Högnabba F., Oliver J.C., Molnár K, Fraker E., Gaya E., Hafellner J., Hofstetter V., Gueidan C., Otálora M.A.G., Hodkinson B., Kukwa M., Lücking R., Björk C., Sipman H.J.M., Burgaz A.R., Thell A., Passo A., Myllys L., Goward T., Fern 2014. A multigene phylogenetic synthesis for the class Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota): 1307 fungi representing 1139 infrageneric taxa, 317 genera and 66 families. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 79: 132-168.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The lichens of Italy. A second annotated catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 740 pp.
Nimis P.L., Hafellner J., Roux C., Clerc P., Mayrhofer H., Martellos S., Bilovitz P.O. 2018. The Lichens of the Alps. An Annotated Catalogue. Mycokeys, 31: 1-634.
Sérusiaux E., van Den Boom P.P.G., Brand M.A., Coppins B.J., Magain N. 2012. Lecania falcata, a new species from Spain, the Canary Islands and the Azores, close to Lecania chlorotiza. Lichenologist. 44, 5: 577-590.
Triebel D., Wedin M., Rambold G. 1997. The genus Scutula (lichenicolous ascomycetes, Lecanorales): species on the Peltigera canina and P. horizontalis groups. Symb. Bot. Upsal., 32, 1: 323-337.
van den Boom P.P.G., Alvarado P. 2019. Lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Faial (Azores, Portugal) with descriptions of three new species. Herzogia, 32: 421-437.
van den Boom, P.P.G., Magain N. 2020. Three new lichen species from Macaronesia belonging in Ramalinaceae, with the description of a new genus. Plant and Fungal Systematics, 65, 1: 167-175.
Wedin M., Ihlen P.G., Triebel D. 2007. Scutula tuberculosa, the correct name of the Scutula growing on Solorina spp., with a key to Scutula s. str. in the Northern Hemisphere. Lichenologist 39, 4: 329-333.

Last modified: July, 15, 2023

Project Dryades, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste - CC BY-SA 4.0