Bassettia virginiana, Melika & Abrahamson, 2007

Melika, G & Abrahamson, WG, 2007, Review Of The Nearctic Gallwasp Species Of The Genus Bassettia Ashmead, 1887, With Description Of New Species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 53 (2), pp. 131-148 : 141-142

Bassettia virginiana sp. n.

( Figs 20, 23 )

Description – Asexual (parthenogenetic) female. Head and mesosoma black; clypeus, antenna, legs and metasoma dark brown. Head rounded, nearly as broad as high in front view; 1.8–1.9 times as broad as long from above; vertex, frons, and gena finely coriaceous; lower face much rougher, with dense short white setae; clypeus small rounded, gena broadened behind eye, broader than cross diameter of eye; inner margins of eyes parallel; POD nearly equal OOD; malar space 2.5 times as short as eye height. Antenna brown, 14-segmented, pedicel and scape flattened and broadened, both nearly equal in length; F1–F5 filiform, subsequent flagellomeres shorter and broader than F1–F5; F6–F10 nearly equal in length ( Fig. 20 ). Mesosoma flattened dorso-ventrally, longer than high; mesoscutum and mesoscutellum elongated, longer than broad; mesoscutum transversely finely coriaceous; mesoscutellum finely coriaceous, not overhanging metascutellum. Notauli weak, shallow, reach to 1/2–1/3 of mesoscutum (in paratype female slightly longer); parapsidal and anterior parallel lines distinct, median mesoscutal line absent; mesopleuron transversely finely striate; scutellar foveae in the form of narrow stripe, without carina separating them ( Fig. 23 ). Fore wing slightly longer than body; veins pale yellow, Cu1 and M traceable only, areolet absent, radial cell elongated, 3.3 times as long as broad. Legs uniformly dark brown, except black coxae. Central portion of propodeum smooth, shiny, and bare, trapezoid (lower part broader than upper), delimited by straight lateral carinae, without median longitudinal carina; width of central area nearly equal to distance between lateral carina and side of propodeum; sides of propodeum with short dense white setae. Nucha very short, smooth. Metasoma reddish brown, nearly as long as head+mesosoma, laterally compressed, longer than high in lateral view; terga smooth, shiny, without punctures; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium slender, more than 3.0 times as long as broad, with few very short setae. Length 3.5–3.7 mm.

Gall. Unknown.

Type material – Holotype female and 1 paratype female. “ USA, VA, Page Co., Shenandoah N.P., 8000 m a.s.l. 17.04–05.1987. BRC HYM. T ” . Holotype deposited in CNCI, paratype in the collection of SPL. Etymology – Named after the state where collected .

Diagnosis – Similar to B. pallida , however, in B. virginiana sp. n. distal flagellomeres are broader ( Fig. 20 ); notauli are very weak, indistinct, present in posterior 1/3 of the mesoscutum only, anterior parallel lines distinct, with shiny bottom ( Fig. 23 ); mesosoma and head are black, the prominent part of the ventral spine of the hypopygium is 4.0–5.0 times as long as broad. In B. pallida , distal flagellomeres are filiform ( Fig. 21 ); notauli are broad, deep, complete, reaching the pronotum, anterior parallel line only hardly traceable, very indistinct and narrow ( Fig. 22 ); mesosoma and head are brown; the prominent part of the ventral spine of the hypopygium is only 2.0–2.5 times as long as broad.

Biology – Only the female is known. Adults were caught in a Malaise trap in April–May. Distribution – USA: Virginia (Page Co., Shenandoah National Park).

Figures

Figs 17–23. 17–19 = Bassettia archboldi: 17 = fore wing, 18 = body, lateral view, 19 = scutum and scutellum, dorsal view. 20–21 = female antenna: 20 = B. virginiana, 21 = B. pallida. 22–23 = scutum