Onycholyda fulvicornis Shinohara, 2016

Shinohara, Akihiko, Kakuda, Tsuneo, Wei, Meicai & Kameda, Yuichi, 2018, DNA Barcodes Identify the Larvae and Unassociated Male of Three Onycholyda Sawflies (Hymenoptera, Pamphiliidae) from China, Zootaxa 4403 (1), pp. 123-132 : 127-130

Onycholyda fulvicornis Shinohara, 2016

( Fig. 3 )

Onycholyda fulvicornis Shinohara, in Shinohara & Wei, 2016: 305 .

Distribution. China (Shaanxi, Zhejiang).

Host plant. Rubus hirsutus Thunb.

Field observations (by Shinohara). Zhejiang Province, Mt. Tianmushan, Chanyuansi, 480 m. On April 16, 2014, three leaf-rolls were found (two of them Fig. 3A, B ), each on one leaf and containing one larva, on Rubus hirsutus. One of the larvae matured on April 28 ( Fig. 3D, F, H ) and was fixed in ethanol (sample no. 495). Others did not survive. On April 9, 2015, three eggs and five solitary larvae were found on R. hirsutus, each egg and larva on a separate leaf. The three eggs hatched on April 13, and these larvae matured on April 28 (fixed in ethanol, sample nos. 575, 576, 577). Two of the five larvae collected in the field matured on April 23 ( Fig. 3E, G , fixed in ethanol, sample nos. 573, 574) while the others died before maturity. One leaf-roll was found on the same plant on April 12 ( Fig. 3C ), but the larva died thereafter.

The remains of the egg shells, when located, were always on the under surface of the leaf, on or between the lateral veins ( Fig. 3A–C ). The larval abodes were simple and always on the under surface of the leaf ( Fig. 3A–C ).

Larva. Mature larva ( Fig. 3D–H ): Head pale brown with irregular black areas along posterior margin, frons and mouth parts; antenna pale brown; trunk, including thoracic legs and subanal appendage, vivid pale green; obscure blackish spot on dorsal surface of prothoracic shield; cervical sclerite black.

Remarks. This species was described from a series of specimens from Zhejiang and Shaanxi Provinces, with the holotype from Mt. Tianmushan in the former province (Shinohara & Wei 2016). The adult specimens used for molecular work ( Table 1, sample nos. 491–493) were from the type locality of the species and agree well with the type series and the original description. The larval material (sample nos. 495, 573–577) is also from the type locality and doubtless belongs to O. fulvicornis , as the molecular analysis indicates.

The mature larva of this species, characterized by the largely pale brown head and the almost entirely pale green trunk, is similar in color pattern to those of O. minomalis , O. similis and O. xanthogaster . We are not at the moment able to separate the mature larvae of the four species.

The host plant, Rubus hirsutus, does not occur in Shaanxi Province ( Lu & Boufford 2003), where several adults of this species have been collected (Shinohara & Wei 2016). Some other species of Rubus must serve as host plants of O. xanthogaster in Shaanxi Province.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Onycholyda fulvicornis, larval leaf-rolls (A–C) and mature larvae (D–H), all collected at Chanyuansi, Mt. Tianmushan,Zhejiang Province,and photographed indoors by A. Shinohara.A, Leaf-roll on Rubus hirsutus, April 16, 2014; B, leaf-roll on R. hirsutus, April 16, 2014; C, leaf-roll on R. hirsutus, April 14, 2015 (collected April 12); D, F, H, mature larva (sample no. 495), matured and photographed April 28, 2014 (collected April 16); E, G, mature larva (sample no.573), matured and photographed April 23, 2015 (collected April 9). Remains of eggshells arrowed in A–C.