Pristiphora melanocarpa (Hartig, 1840)

Prous, Marko, Vikberg, Veli, Liston, Andrew & Kramp, Katja, 2016, North-Western Palaearctic species of the Pristiphora ruficornis group (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae), Journal of Hymenoptera Research 51, pp. 1-54 : 28-29

Pristiphora melanocarpa (Hartig, 1840)

Nematus melanocarpus Hartig, 1840: 27. Lectotype ♀ (GBIF-GISHym3349; here designated) in ZSM, examined. Type locality: North Germany (according to introduction).

Nematus funerulus Costa, 1859: 20-21. Syntypes ♂♀ possibly in MZUN, not examined. Type locality: vicinity of Naples, Campania, Italy.

Nematus wuestneii Stein, 1885 [mandatory correction of incorrect original spelling N. Wüstneii]: 304. Lectotype ♀ (here designated) in BMNH, examined. Type locality: Chodov [Chodau], Czech Republic.

Pristiphora ortinga Kincaid, 1900: 349-350. Holotype ♀ (USNMENT00778199) in USNM, not examined. Type locality: Kukak Bay, Alaska, USA. Note. Synonymised by Smith (1979: 63).

Similar species.

The most similar species is P. ruficornis , which has paler antennae compared to P. melanocarpa . Females have the ventral side of antennae uniformly black (Fig. 24 ) or only slightly paler, while P. ruficornis has a distinctly paler ventral side (Fig. 25). Males of P. melanocarpa also tend to have darker antennae than in P. ruficornis , but penis valves should be studied in specimens that have conspicuously pale antennae. The ventro-apical spine of the penis valve bends distinctly more sharply (being almost L-shaped) and is usually narrower (Figs 80 , 82 ) than in P. ruficornis (Figs 79 , 81 ).

Genetic data.

Based on COI barcode sequences, specimens are divided between three BIN clusters (BOLD:AAG3540, BOLD:ACZ4465, BOLD:ACZ4466), two of them (BOLD:ACZ4465 and BOLD:ACZ4466) including also P. ruficornis (Fig. 1 ). These BIN clusters form a monophyletic group (Fig. 1 ) and minimum distances between them are only 1.13-1.50%. Neither do nuclear TPI sequences support separation of P. melanocarpa and P. ruficornis (Fig. 2 ).

Host plants.

Betula pendula Roth ( Kangas 1985), B. pubescens Ehrh. ssp. czerepanovii (N. I. Orlova) Hämet-Ahti (rearings by VV), B. nana L. (rearings and ex ovo rearing experiments by VV). The records from Salix (e.g. Lorenz and Kraus 1957) are probably based on misidentifications. A male paratype of P. coniceps Lindqvist (http://id.luomus.fi/GL.5208) that belongs to P. melanocarpa , was reared from larvae found on Salix ( Lindqvist 1955), but this should not be taken as a clear evidence for host association as no ex ovo rearings were involved.

Distribution and material examined.

Holarctic. Specimens studied are from Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden.

Figures

Figure 1. Maximum likelihood tree of Pristiphora ruficornis group based on cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences (1078 bp). Specimens that had at least the full barcode sequence (658 bp) were included in the analysis. Branches with multiple specimen identification labels represent identical sequences, only one of which was used in the analysis. Numbers on the nodes show approximate likelihood-ratio test (aLRT) support values and bootstrap proportions (%, BP). Support values for weakly supported branches (aLRT <0.9 and / or BP <70) are not shown. The inset shows the tree with outgroup species. The scale bar shows the number of estimated substitutions per nucleotide position. An asterisk (*) indicates the specimens that we have not studied. AUT, Austria; CAN, Canada; CHN, China; DEU, Germany; ESP, Spain; EST, Estonia; FIN, Finland; FRA, France; GBR, United Kingdom; ITA, Italy; MAR, Morocco; NOR, Norway; PRT, Portugal; SWE, Sweden; USA, United States of America. NUMTs?, possible nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes.

Figure 2. Maximum likelihood tree of Pristiphora ruficornis group based on triose-phosphate isomerase (TPI) sequences (alignment length 842 bp). Branches with multiple specimen identification labels represent identical sequences, only one of which was used in the analysis. Numbers on the nodes show approximate likelihood-ratio test (aLRT) support values and bootstrap proportions (%, BP). Support values for weakly supported branches (aLRT <0.9 and / or BP <70) are not shown. The scale bar shows the number of estimated substitutions per nucleotide position.

Figures 18 - 36. 18 P. albitibia DEI-GISHym 31514, thorax in lateral view 19 P. luteipes DEI-GISHym 80038, thorax in lateral view 20 P. astragali holotype, thorax in lateral view 21 P. leucopus DEI-GISHym 31556, lateral 22 P. leucopus DEI-GISHym 4989, lateral 23 P. luteipes DEI-GISHym 80038, lateral 24 P. luteipes DEI-GISHym 80038, flagellum 25 P. ruficornis DEI-GISHym 31185, flagellum 26 P. armata DEI-GISHym 11092 27 P. subopaca holotype, pterostigma (arrow) 28 P. opaca holotype, pterostigma (arrow) 29 P. ruficornis DEI-GISHym 31185, pterostigma (arrow) 30 P. appendiculata DEI-GISHym 31500, claw 31 P. opaca holotype, claw 32 P. subopaca holotype, claw 33 P. armata DEI-GISHym 11554, claw 34 P. bifida DEI-GISHym 31507, claw 35 P. frigida NHRS-HEVA 000005006, flagellum with barely visible stout black setae (arrows) 36 P. pusilla DEI-GISHym 80050, flagellum with clearly visible stout black setae.

Figures 77 - 86. Penis valves of Pristiphora ruficornis group. 77 P. appendiculata DEI-GISHym 31555 78 P. albitibia DEI-GISHym 20956 79 P. ruficornis PR. 462 VV 80 P. melanocarpa PR. 425 VV 81 P. ruficornis DEI-GISHym 19636 82 P. melanocarpa PR. 409 VV 83 P. armata PR. 465 VV 84 P. leucopus PR. 466 VV reared ex ovo from Tilia sp. 85 P. armata DEI-GISHym 80020 86 P. leucopus GBIF-GISHym 3246 (syntype of Nematus crassicornis Hartig).