Deconica flavum
Entocybe roseoalbus
By Fang Jingyi
In 2024, seven new species were discovered in the Zhejiang Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve, including four large fungi--Lactarius parvihatsudake, Entoloma tianmushanense, Entocybe roseoalbus, and Deconica flavum, and three insects--Bradysia tianmuensis, Bradysia curvula, and Aulaconotus yangi.
Unlike similar species, Lactarius parvihatsudake in Tianmu Mountain has been found to coexist with the ancient plant species Pseudolarix amabilis. This marks the first recorded instance of Pseudolarix amabilis serving as the host plant for this group of milk mushrooms. Lactarius parvihatsudake has also been identified near Fuyu Mountain Villa in Tianmu Mountain, as well as at Hangzhou Botanical Garden and Nanjing Botanical Garden.
According to the 2021 comprehensive natural resource survey, the Tianmu Mountain Reserve is home to 621 species of large fungi and 6,485 species of insects. With the discovery of these new species, the counts have risen to 625 for fungi and 6,488 for insects. Among them, three large fungi species and 136 animal species are named after “Tianmu”. Notably, Entocybe roseoalbus and Deconica flavum are endemic to Tianmu Mountain.