Camarotoscena subrubescens (Flor)

Figs 1 C, H, 2 S – U, 4 J – L, 5 H, 6 D, H, 7 D, 8 C

Rhinocola subrubescens Flor (1861 b): 411

Camarotoscena subrubescens, Vondráček (1951): 124

Camarotoscena ujenci Klimaszewski (1982): 3; syn. nov.

Material examined.

From Bulgaria, France, Turkey; dry and slide mounted; BFUS, MHNG, MMBC, NHMB.

Description.

Adult by Loginova (1975 b). Fifth instar immature (Fig. 6 D). Dorsal sclerites on the head, thorax and abdomen brown to dark brown (Fig. 6 D). Setae on the dorsal surface of the forewing pads relatively dense, numerous and long and with several sectasetae (Fig. 6 H). Caudal plate with interval II longer than medial and apical row of setae (Fig. 7 D). Ventrite bearing the circumanal ring strongly sclerotised and well-delimited anteriorly; bearing a row of setae along anterior margin; venter with four transverse rows between abdominal base and anterior margin of terminal ventrite; transverse row IV of setae on abdominal venter consisting of one uneven row of variously long setae (Fig. 8 C).

Distribution.

Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Slovenia, Mongolia, Turkey (Flor 1861 b; Oshanin 1907; Klimaszewski 1982; Burckhardt and Önuçar 1993; Conci et al. 1993; Seljak 2020; Pramatarova et al. 2025).

Host plant.

Populus alba L., P. nigra L. ( Salicaceae), confirmed by the presence of immatures.

Biology.

Immatures in leaf roll galls (Fig. 1 H). Probably bivoltine (Conci et al. 1993). In the south of France, adults are common in August (S. Grimaud, pers. obs.). Flor (1861 b) mentioned that this species was found together with C. speciosa (“ gleichzeitig und an denselben Stellen … ”).

Comment.

According to Klimaszewski (1982), Camarotoscena ujenci, erected for two males, differs from C. subrubescens in the geographical distribution (Mongolia versus Mediterranean), the opaque yellow forewings with more intense coloration along apical margin (versus uniformly yellow), the rust-yellow antennae with dark segment X (versus dark segments IX and X) and the host association Populus diversifolia (= P. euphratica) versus P. robusta (= Populus × canadensis). The characters provided by Klimaszewski (1982) are not very convincing to justify a new species. More material is required to solve this problem. Meanwhile, C. ujenci is considered a synonym of C. subrubescens .