Andricus flavus, Pujade-Villar & Wang & Guo & Chen, 2014

Pujade-Villar, Juli, Wang, Yi-Ping, Guo, Rui & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2014, New species of gallwasps inducing in Quercus fabri and its inquiline (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) in China, Zoological Systematics 39 (3), pp. 417-423 : 418-420

3.1 Andricus flavus sp. nov. ( Figs 1–11 )

Holotype ♀, deposited in ZAFU, China, Zhejiang, Tianmushan (119°27′E, 30°19′N), 8 May 2010, Rui Guo , collected from gall reared in lab . Paratype 1♀, deposited in UB with same label as holotype .

Description. Length: female 1.6 mm; male unknown.

Color. Head dark yellow, except for mandibles blackish brown apically (teeth); antennae yellowish; mesosoma chestnut with some areas darker; legs yellowish, with fore tibia brown dorsally; metasoma dark red dorsally; hypopygium pale yellow. Wing veins brown.

Head ( Figs 1–2 ). Head trapezoidal in front view, coriaceous bellow toruli, with sparse white setae, 2.4 times broader than long from dorsal view, 1.4 times broader than high and slightly narrower than mesosoma in front view. Gena delicately coriaceous, slightly broadened behind eye. Malar space coriaceous, with dense setae and without irradiating striae, 0.3 times as long as height of eye. POL: OOL: LOL = 5.5: 3.0: 3.0 and lateral ocellus 2. Diameter of antennal toruli 0.3 times larger than distance between them, distance between torulus and inner margin of eye 0.6 times diameter of torulus; lower face coriaceous, with evenly dense white setation. Transfacial line equal to height of eye. Clypeus trapezoid, wider than high, emarginate, without median incision ventrally, glabrous; anterior tentorial pit deep and large, the epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line distinctly deep. Frons alutaceous and shinning, with sparse white setae medially and dense laterally; interocellar area weakly rugosed and with sparse white setae. Vertex and occiput uniformly coriaceous.

Antenna ( Fig. 7 ). Antenna with 14 segments, slightly longer than mesosoma; F1 1.3 times as long as F2, and 1.4 times as long as pedicel; F2 and following segments similar in length. Antennal formula: 4.0: 2.8: 4.0: 3.0: 3.0: 3.0: 3.0: 3.0: 3.0: 3.0: 2.8: 2.8: 2.5: 3.0. Placodela sensillas present from F2.

Mesosoma ( Figs 2–4, 8 ). Mesosoma strongly convex, with long white setae. Pronotum coriaceous, with dense white setae, laterally with distinctly transversal striate and dense white setae. Mesonotum smooth and shiny, anteriorly coarsely coriaceous around notauli except for notauli rugosed, with sparse long setae and denser along notauli. Notauli complete, deeply impressed and wide, strongly converging at posterior end; anterior parallel lines inconspicuous but visible, extending to 1/2 of entirely length of mesosoma; parapsidal lines defined, narrow and reaching the tegula level; median mesoscutal line absent. Mesoscutellum rounded, broader in posterior 3/4, longer than broad, overhanging metanotum very slightly, uniformly dull, rugose, with irregular strong rugae, areas between rugae alutaceous and shiny; scutellar foveae slightly ovate, transverse, occupying 1/4 of length of mesoscutellum, separated by a median carina, bottom smooth; mesopleuron smooth and shinning, with sparse setae dorsally and ventrally. Metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron in the upper around 4/5 of entirely mesopleuron height, area delimited by the inferior and superior parts of metapleural sulcus, with dense white setae; lateral propodeal carinae distinct, divergent in the anterior part but curved outwards in posterior third, rugose inside; lateral propodeal area alutaceous to smooth and shiny, with dense, long and white setae.

Legs. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.

Forewing ( Fig. 5 ). Forewing longer than body, hyaline, with short and dense ciliation along margin, radial cell around 3.2 times as long as its maximum width; vein R 1 nearly straight, vein Rs not reaching wing margin and for a short distance following margin; areolet inconspicuous, small, triangular and closed. Vein 2r weakly curved. Vein Rs+M short and only visible basally.

Metasoma ( Fig. 6 ). Metasoma slightly shorter than head+mesosoma, distinctly longer than its high in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergite occupying to 1/3 of entirely metasoma in dorsal view, with sparse setae laterally in the anterior part, smooth and shiny all subsequent tergites punctured dorsally. Ventral spine of hypopygium very long, prominent part 3.2 times longer than broad, with some white subapical setae not extending beyond apex of spine, with dense long setae ventrally.

Gall ( Figs 9–11 ). Individual galls, approximately spherical, usually locate on the underside of leaves. They are independent never in clusters. The young gall is juicy and freshly green, covered with small raised tubercles on the surface. With the gall development, it becomes brown or grey with a tough woody wall, and reaches approximately 2.0–3.0mm in diameter. The gall turns dry and dark brown when mature. The mature gall contains outer gall tissues and inner, fully larval chambers. The interior space contains about 4-5 larval chambers with 0.5–0.7 mm in diameter.

Biology. Only the sexual generation is known, inducing twigs galls on Quercus fabri Hance. Galls appear on the host plant from early April. Mature galls were collected in early May, adults emerging immediately after the galls were collected.

Distribution. China: Zhejiang (Tianmushan).

Etymology. The name is related with its body color.

Diagnosis. Andricus flavus sp. nov. morphologically resembles A. xishuangbannaus Melika & Tang from China, A. moriokae Monzen from Japan, and A. formosanus Tang & Melika, A. pseudocurvator Tang & Melika and A. songshui Tang & Melika from Taiwan. In A. flavus sp. nov. the female has 12 flagellomeres as A. formosanus and A. xishuangbannaus (11 flagellomeres in the other species, sometimes with a indistinct suture in F 11 in A. pseudocurvator), flagellomeres with dense white setae as A. formosanus (with few sparse short white setae in the rest of species), 2nd metasomal tergite with very few setae antero-laterally as A. moriokae (2nd metasomal tergite with numerous setae antero-laterally in others), the forewing without areolet as A. moriokae (with a distinct areolet in others), the ventral spine of the hypopygium around 3 times as long as wide as A. formosanus (shorter in A. moriokae and longer in A. xishuangbannaus , A. pseudocurvator and A.songshui). However, the new species differs of all mentioned species on color (dark yellow in A. flavus sp. nov. but dark brown to black in others), and in sculpture of mesoscutum smooth and shiny, anteriorly coarsely coriaceous around notauli in Andricus flavus sp. nov. (alutaceous to smooth, especially in between notauli, shining in A. xishuangbannaus , A. formosanus and A. pseudocurvator; and uniformly sculptured in A. moriokae and A.songshui). Both Chinese species also differs in anterior parallel and parapsidal mesoscutal lines (present in A. flavus sp. nov. absent in A. xishuangbannaus ), radial cell (around 3 times as long as broad in A. flavus sp. nov., 4 times in A. xishuangbannaus ), in prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium (around 3.0 times longer than broad in A. flavus sp. nov., 4 times in A. xishuangbannaus ) and in host (Q. fabri in A. flavus sp. nov., Q. griffithii in A. xishuangbannaus ).

Figures

Figs 1–11. Andricus flavus sp. nov., female. 1. Head, frontal view. 2. Head and anterior part of mesoscutum, dorsal view. 3. Mesosoma, dorsal view. 4. Head and mesosoma, lateral view. 5. Forewing. 6. Metasoma, lateral view. 7. Antenna. 8. Metanotum and propodeum. 9–11. Galls.