Cycloneuroterus lilungi Tang, Melika & Yang

Tang, Chang-Ti, Melika, George, Nicholls, James A., Yang, Man-Miao & Stone, Graham N, 2011, A new genus of oak gallwasps, Cycloneuroterus Melika & Tang, with the description of five new species from Taiwan (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), Zootaxa 3008, pp. 33-62 : 37-40

Cycloneuroterus lilungi Tang, Melika & Yang , new species

Figs 1–17

Type material. HOLOTYPE female: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Quercus longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 02.III.2010. PARA- TYPES: 14 females and 18 males: 9 female paratypes with the same labels as the holotype; 3 female paratypes: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 03.III.2010; 2 female paratypes: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 04.III.2010; 8 male paratypes: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 18.II.2010; 5 male paratypes: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 21.II.2010; 1 male paratype: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 22.II.2010; 1 male paratype: TAIWAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 18.II.2010. adult em. 25.II.2010; 2 male paratypes: TAI- WAN, Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountain, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 01.II.2010. adult em. 12.II.20, Shrtz Township, N 22° 9'58.62", E 120°43'47.60", ex Q. longinux , leg. Chang-Ti Tang, 01.II.2010. adult em. 13.II.2010. The female holotype, 5 female and 6 male paratypes are deposited in NMNS, 4 female and 4 male paratypes in PDL, 1 female and 1 male paratypes in USNM, 4 female and 7 male paratypes in NCHU.

Etymology. The species is named after the site, Li-Lung Mountain, where it was collected.

Diagnosis. Cycloneuroterus lilungi , together with two other new species described herein, C. fortuitusus and C. formosanus , has the head, mesosoma and metasoma dark brown to black. In C. fortuitusus , both females and males have the inner margins of compound eyes parallel, the lower face, frons, vertex, and occiput are coriaceous, matt, never shiny, while in C. lilungi and C. formosanus , in both females and males the inner margins of compound eyes converge ventrally, lower face alutaceous, only median elevated area delicately coriaceous; the frons, vertex, and occiput are smooth or very delicately alutaceous, always shiny. Most closely resembles C. formosanus (see the key above for further diagnostic characters).

Description. SEXUAL FEMALE. Head dark brown to black; antennae, mandibles, mouthparts, palpi labialis and maxillaris light brown; mesosoma black to dark brown, metasoma slightly lighter than mesosoma; legs dirty yellowish, with slightly darker coxae.

Head 1.9 times as broad as long from above, 1.2 times as broad as high and as broad as mesosoma in anterior view. Gena delicately alutaceous, not broadened behind eye, 2.0 times narrower than cross diameter of eye; malar area alutaceous, without striae, 0.3 times as long as height of eye. Compound eyes converging ventrally. POL nearly 1.3 times as broad as OOL; OOL 2.3 times as long as length of lateral ocellus and 1.7 times as long as LOL; all ocelli ovate, elongated, of same size and shape. Transfacial distance only 1.25 times as broad as height of eye; diameter of antennal torulus 1.4 times as large as distance between them, distance between torulus and inner margin of eye 1.1 times as long as diameter of torulus; lower face alutaceous, with dense white setae and piliferous points; median elevated area narrow, delicately coriaceous. Clypeus elevated above lower face, quadrangular, flat, emarginate, without median incision ventrally, alutaceous to glabrous; anterior tentorial pit small but distinct, epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line distinct, deep. Frons and interocellar area very delicately uniformly alutaceous, with few white setae. Vertex and occiput delicately alutaceous. Postocciput and postgena smooth, shiny, without setae, with some very delicate parallel and longitudinal striae, extend from occipital foramen and reaching upper level of hypostoma; posterior tentorial pit large, ovate, deep, area below not impressed; height of occipital and oral foramen less than height of postgenal bridge. Antenna with 12 flagellomeres; slightly longer than mesosoma; pedicel longer than broad; F1 length nearly equal to F2 and F3, 1.2 times as long as pedicel; F4 and subsequent flagellomeres nearly equal in length; F12 only slightly longer than F11; placodeal sensilla on all flagellomeres.

Mesosoma nearly as long as high from lateral view. Pronotum smooth, shiny, very short dorsally, without parallel striae laterally, with few white setae; strongly impressed along anterior rim (arrowed on Figs 9, 12 ); propleuron alutaceous, shiny, with smooth area centrally. Notauli, anterior parallel and parapsidal lines absent, even rows of setae do not indicate them; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina broad, extending to point where notaulus usually reach pronotum. Mesoscutellum trapezoid, longer than broad, broadest in posterior 1/4, smooth, shiny, with very few setae, slightly overhanging metanotum; foveolate along lateral and posterior margins (arrowed on Figs 10–11 ). Scutellar foveae absent, only a semilunar transverse depression present anteriorly, with smooth glabrous bottom. Mesopleuron and speculum smooth, shiny, without setae, impressed along acetabular carina; mesopleural triangle alutaceous; subaxillular bar smooth, shiny, in the most posterior part as high as height of metanotal trough; postalar process with parallel delicate striae; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron in the upper 1/3 of its height. Metascutellum uniformly coriaceous, metanotal trough smooth, shiny, with few short white setae; ventral impressed area narrower than height of metascutellum, smooth, without striae; central propodeal area broad, smooth, shiny, with few delicate, longitudinal and mainly parallel wrinkles, lateral propodeal carinae strong, high, strongly curved outwards in their middle section; lateral propodeal area smooth, shiny with few setae and piliferous points. Nucha without irregular rugae.

Radial cell 3.6–4.0 times as long as broad; Rs+M distinct on 3/4 of distance to basalis and its projection reaching basalis in lower half of its height.

Metasoma slightly shorter than head+mesosoma, as high as long in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergite occupying nearly half of metasoma length in dorsal view, with very few white setae laterally, all subsequent tergites without setae, smooth, shiny. Ventral spine of hypopygium short, prominent part nearly 2.5–3.0 times as long as broad in ventral view, with sparse, white subapical setae, not extending beyond apex of spine; 4–5 long white setae located along ventral part of hypopygium. Body length 1.3–1.5 mm (n=5).

MALE. Body length 1.2–1.4 mm (n=5), similar to female but compound eye slightly larger, antenna with 13 flagellomeres, slightly longer than body length, F1 curved and swollen apically, slightly longer than F2, 1.8 times as long as pedicel; F13 nearly equal in length to F12; placodeal sensilla on all flagellomeres.

Gall ( Figs 16–17 ). Mature galls on very young leaves, with a central larval chamber, diameter 0.8–1.6 mm (n=10). The tissues surrounding larval chamber are swollen and cause deformation of leaves. The old galls together with the leaves persist on the tree. The young stage of galls remains unknown.

Biology. Only the sexual generation of this species is known, inducing integral leaf galls on Q. longinux . Mature galls were collected in early and mid-February, adults emerged under laboratory conditions from late February until early March.

Distribution. Currently known only from Taiwan: Pingtung County, Li-Lung Mountains ( Fig. 108 ). Quercus longinux is known only from Taiwan ( Govaerts & Frodin 1998), so it is possible that this species is endemic to Taiwan; however, further sampling throughout the Oriental region is necessary to establish the distribution of this species.

Figures

FIGURES 108. Collection sites of Cycloneuroterus species in Taiwan indicated by numbers (figure from http: // www. google. com / earth /,): C. formosanus (No. 1, N 24 ° 11 ' 34.69 ", E 120 ° 47 ' 58.89 "; No. 2, N 24 ° 9 ' 45.18 ", E 120 ° 57 ' 35.17 "; No 3, N 23 ° 55 ' 55.64 ", E 120 ° 53 ' 38.51 "), C. fortuitusus (No. 4; N 23 ° 3 ' 36.57 ", E 121 ° 18 ' 32.53 "), C. lirongchiuea (No. 5; N 22 ° 19 ' 31.22 ", E 120 ° 51 ' 57.15 "), C. longinuxus (No. 6; N 22 ° 15 ' 51.31 ", E 120 ° 49 ' 21.71 "), C. lilungi (No. 7; N 22 ° 9 ' 58.62 ", E 120 ° 43 ' 47.60 ").

FIGURES 1 – 8. Cycloneuroterus lilungi, new species: 1 – 3, head, female: 1, anterior view, 2, dorsal view, 3, posterior view. 4 – 6, head, male: 4, anterior view, 5, dorsal view, 6, posterior view. 7 – 8, antenna: 7, female, 8, male.

FIGURES 9 – 13. Cycloneuroterus lilungi, new species, female: 9, mesosoma, lateral view, 10, mesoscutum, dorsal view, 11, mesoscutellum, dorsal view, 12, pronotum and propleuron, anterior view, 13, forewing.

FIGURES 14 – 17. Cycloneuroterus lilungi, new species, female: 14, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view, 15, metasoma, female, lateral view. 16 – 17, gall (photos by Chang-Ti Tang).