Feron verutum Kinsey, 1937

Cuesta-Porta, Victor, Melika, George, Nicholls, James A., Stone, Graham N. & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2023, Re-establishment of the Nearctic oak cynipid gall wasp genus Feron Kinsey, 1937 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), including the description of six new species, Zootaxa 5366 (1), pp. 1-174 : 156-159

Feron verutum Kinsey, 1937 comb. rev.

Figs 476–488

Feron verutum Kinsey, 1937: 75 , female, gall.

Andricus verutus (Kinsey) Weld, 1952a: 310 .

Types examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female “ Rio Verde 14 mi S.L.P. 6500’, Mex. Gall 12.4.31, 63 fms. 5-12- 32”, “ Q. macrophylla, Kinsey coll.”, red “ Xyst. verutum , Holo- Paratype ” . PARATYPES (4 asexual females) with the same labels as the holotype. Holotypes and paratypes deposited at the AMNH were examined by GM. In the general collections of the AMNH a large number of paratypes are also deposited .

Additional material. 2 asexual females “MEX-421, Mexico, Ciudad de Mexico, Santa Fe , ex Q. rugosa , (16. i.2018) 17-31.i.2018, 2 females, leg. D. Cibrián-Tovar & U. Barrera-Ruíz ” .

Diagnosis. Asexual females belong to the group of Feron species in which the body is never black; the head is quadrangular or ovate in frontal view, with ocelli elevated above the frons; inner margins of eyes parallel or very slightly converging ventrally; the transfacial distance is equal to or longer than height of eye; toruli are located above the mid-height of eyes; the eye is less than 3.0× as high as the length of malar space; lateral ocelli are large, OOL subequal or at most 1.7× as long as the diameter of ocellus; the pronotum laterally with longitudinal carinae; the mesoscutum alutaceous to coriaceous, rugose-reticulate, reticulate, without piliferous points; as in F. splendens (asex) and F. vitreum (asex). Differs from F. vitreum in the F1 being subequal or slightly longer than scape+pedicel; the transfacial distance is longer than the height of eye. Differs from F. splendens in that the mesoscutum without striae in anterior part between notauli, anterior parallel lines as a bare smooth stripe, mesoscutellar foveae are separated by a thin carina, posteriorly not delimited by a carina.

Re-description. Asexual female ( Figs 476–487 ). Body, including mouthparts, antennae, legs uniformly light brown.

Head quadrangular, 1.2× as broad as high in frontal view, with sparse setae; 2.1× as broad as long in dorsal view; head narrower than mesosoma in frontal view. Gena alutaceous, not broadened behind eye and with parallel sides in frontal view, narrower than transverse diameter of eye in lateral view in ventral part. Malar space alutaceous, with a few delicate striae radiating from clypeus and not reaching eye; eye 2.6–3.0× as high as length of malar space. Inner margins of eyes parallel. POL 1.5–2.7× as long as OOL, OOL slightly shorter than diameter of lateral ocellus and slightly longer than LOL, all ocelli ovate, of same size. Transfacial distance slightly longer than height of eye; torulus located above mid height of eye, frons shorter than height of lower face, diameter of antennal torulus 1.4x as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye equal to diameter of torulus; lower face delicately coriaceous, with white setae; slightly elevated median area, delicately coriaceous, with a few setae. Clypeus rectangular, more than 2.0× as broad as high, alutaceous, glabrous, without setae along ventral edge; ventrally straight, not emarginate and without median incision; anterior tentorial pit rounded, distinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons coriaceous, without striae and with a few setae, small triangular area under central ocellus coriaceous; areas between toruli and between torulus and eye delicately coriaceous; interocellar area coriaceous. Vertex, occiput, postgena, postocciput smooth, with sparse white long setae; postgena with parallel concentric black stripes; posterior tentorial pit large, elongate, area below impressed, glabrous; occipital foramen as high as height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulcus; postgenal sulcus bent strongly outwards, reaching posterior tentorial pit; postgenal bridge broad, as high as occipital foramen. Antenna slightly longer than head+mesosoma, with 12 flagellomeres, pedicel longer than broad; F1 2.2× as long as pedicel, slightly longer than scape+pecidel and slightly longer than F2; F2=F3, F4 shorter than F3 and slightly longer than F5, F6 longer than F7, F8=F9, F9 slightly longer than F10, F10=F11=F12; placodeal sensilla indistinct, visible on F4–F12.

Mesosoma slightly longer than high, with sparse white setae, denser along anterolateral edge of pronotum and on lateral propodeal area. Pronotum smooth, with sparse setae, with delicate parallel concentric striae laterally; propleuron smooth, with sparse long white setae. Mesoscutum delicately coriaceous, smooth, glabrous in between notauli in posterior half, longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae), with sparse white setae in anterior 1/3 of mesoscutum length. Notaulus complete, distinctly impressed on entire length, with smooth, glabrous bottom; at posterior end the distance between notauli only just larger than width of notaulus on its posterior margin; anterior parallel line in the form of a bare, smooth stripe, extending to 1/3 length of mesoscutum; parapsidal line marked with broad smooth glabrous stripes; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina narrow, reaching notaulus. Mesoscutellum trapezoid, longer than broad; disk of mesoscutellum uniformly dull rugose, overhanging metanotum, with a few scattered setae. Mesoscutellar foveae semiquadrangular, slightly broader than high, with smooth, glabrous bottom, divided by distinct narrow central carina. Mesopleuron entirely smooth, glabrous, with setae in anteroventral part; mesopleural triangle smooth, with dense short white setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas smooth, with dense white setae; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangular, as high as height of metanotal trough; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron at half of its height, upper part of sulcus distinct, lower part of sulcus separating delicately coriaceous area, with a few setae. Metascutellum smooth, glabrous with delicate longitudinal parallel striae, taller than height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, with sparse white setae; central propodeal area lyre-shaped, smooth, glabrous; lateral propodeal carinae strong, bent outwards in posterior 1/3; lateral propodeal area smooth, with long dense white setae on piliferous points. Nucha without sulci dorsally, with sulci only laterally. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.

Fore wing longer than body, hyaline, with short dense cilia on margin, veins brown, radial cell open, 4.8× as long as broad; R1 and Rs not reaching wing margin; areolet indistinct, Rs+M distinct along 1/2 of distance between areolet and basalis, its projection reaching basalis at half of its height.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, slightly higher than long in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergum extending to 2/3 of metasoma length in dorsal view, with numerous white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; subsequent terga and hypopygium smooth, glabrous, without micropunctures; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 5.7× as long as broad in ventral view, with few short setae ventrally.

Body length 1.6–2.8 mm (n = 3).

Gall ( Fig. 488 ). Individual galls long and slender, uniformly cylindric or flaring at the top, more or less covered with distinctly crystalline processes all of which are broad and blunt, filamentous, not fine nor hairlike. The whole cluster forming a spiny mass in which the individual galls are still prominent, the clusters up to 30 mm in diameter and 12 mm high. Bright purple rose and straw colour when fresh, darkening with age ( Kinsey 1937).

Biology. Only the asexual generation is known, which induces galls on section Quercus , subsection Leucomexicana oaks: Q. magnoliifolia , and Q. rugosa ( Kinsey 1937) . Fresh mature galls in January, adults emerge in April ( Kinsey 1937). The type material is labelled as collected from Q. macrophylla , but Kinsey did not define the authorship of the host species. Two possible hosts coexist within the distribution of F. verutum : Q. magnoliifolia ( = macrophylla Née ), or Q. resinosa ( = macrophylla sensu Trel. ).

Distribution. Mexico: San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato ( Kinsey 1937); also from Ciudad de Mexico state in this study.

Figures

FIGURES 476–481. Feron verutum, comb. rev., asexual female. 476–479, head: 476, frontal view, 477, dorsal view, 478, posterior view, 479, lateral view; 480, antenna. 481, mesosoma and propleura, frontal view.

FIGURES 482–485. Feron verutum, comb. rev., asexual female. 482, mesosoma, lateral view, 483, mesoscutum, dorsal view, 484, mesoscutellum, dorsal view, 485, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 486–488. Feron verutum, comb. rev., asexual generation. 486–487, asexual female: 486, fore wing, 487, metasoma, lateral view. 488, galls.