Feron tubifaciens ( Weld, 1926 ) Cuesta-Porta & Melika & Nicholls & Stone & Pujade-Villar, 2023

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 : 152-156

Feron tubifaciens ( Weld, 1926) comb. nov.

Figs 464–475

Xanthoteras tubifaciens Weld, 1926: 53 , female, gall.

Trichoteras tubifaciens (Weld) : Weld 1951: 625.

Andricus tubifaciens (Weld) : Melika & Abrahamson 2002: 162.

Types examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female “ Sequioa Nat. Park , Cal.”, “Cut out Nov. 10”, “ Q. garryana ”, “1785”, red label “Type No. 27201 USNM ”, “ Xanthoteras tubifaciens Weld ” deposited in USNM, examined by GM. Specimen data and images available at http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/3fffef724-e7dc-45df-af95-997079719085. Weld (1926) designated 39 paratypes which are deposited in different institutions all over the USA (not examined by the authors).

Additional material. 48 asexual females “ USA, CA, Berry summit, Arcata, CA4 ; galltype 150, ex Q. garryana , coll. 2007.11.04., leg. J.A. Nicholls ” .

Diagnosis. This is the only Feron species with a uniformly imbricate frons and the clypeus with short interrupted delicate transverse striae. Asexual females belong to the Feron species group characterised by having the pronotum laterally with longitudinal carinae and the mesoscutum alutaceous to coriaceous, rugose-reticulate or reticulate, with piliferous points; as also occurs in F. discularis (asex) and F. kingi (asex). Differs from F. discularis in the body colour, which is never black; the frons is not bulging in frontal view, ocelli are not elevated above the head; toruli are located in the upper half of the head; the median mesoscutal line absent. The most similar species is F. kingi but differs from it in colour, the gena is not broadened behind the eye in frontal view and the fore wing is only slightly longer than length of the body; for other characters see couplet 29 in the key.

Re-description. Asexual female ( Figs 464–474 ). Head, antennae, metasoma dark brown to black, mesosoma reddish brown with some darker tints; mouthparts and legs reddish brown.

Head transverse, alutaceous, with dense white setae all over, except frons and vertex with sparse setae; rounded, 1.2× as broad as high and slightly broader than mesosoma in frontal view; 1.9× as broad as long from dorsal view. Gena alutaceous, not broadened behind eye in frontal view, narrower than transverse diameter of eye in lateral view. Malar space alutaceous, glabrous, with a few striae radiating from clypeus, malar sulcus absent; eye 1.9× as high as length of malar space. Inner margins of eyes parallel. POL 1.3× as long as OOL, OOL 3.0× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus and 1.3× as long as LOL, all ocelli slightly ovate, of same size. Transfacial distance 1.6× as long as height of eye; diameter of antennal torulus as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.4× as long as diameter of torulus; lower face smooth to delicately alutaceous, with dense white setae, without striae; elevated median area alutaceous, with narrow elevated keel running from clypeus towards base of toruli. Clypeus rectangular, nearly 2.0× as broad as high, impressed, with short interrupted numerous transverse striae; ventrally rounded, not emarginate, with long setae and without median incision; anterior tentorial pit large, rounded, distinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons uniformly imbricate, without striae and setae, interocellar area alutaceous. Vertex, occiput alutaceous; postocciput with numerous short delicate transverse interrupted striae; postgena alutaceous, with dense setae; posterior tentorial pit large, elongated, area below impressed; occipital foramen as high as height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulci which diverge strongly toward occipital foramen, postgenal bridge anteriorly broader than occipital foramen. Antenna longer than head+mesosoma, with 12 flagellomeres, pedicel slightly longer than broad; F1 2.0× as long as pedicel and 1.1x as long as F2; F2 1.2× as long as F3; F3=F4, F5 1.1× as long as F6, subsequent flagellomeres nearly equal in length, F12=F11; placodeal sensilla on F5–F12.

Mesosoma nearly as long as high, with sparse white setae, except dense setae on lateral propodeal area. Pronotum smooth, with sparse setae, with numerous parallel delicate striae laterally; propleuron smooth, glabrous. Mesoscutum alutaceous, with some smooth areas, with sparse white setae and distinct piliferous points, slightly longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae). Notaulus complete, deep, bottom smooth, posteriorly broader and converging; at posterior end the distance between notauli shorter than distance between notaulus and side of mesoscutum; anterior parallel line invisible; parapsidal line distinct, marked with broad slightly impressed line; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina broad, reaching notaulus. Mesoscutellum ovate, slightly longer than broad; disk of mesoscutellum alutaceous, glabrous, dull rugose laterally and posteriorly, overhanging metanotum, with dense long setae. Mesoscutellar foveae ovate, with smooth, glabrous bottom, divided by a narrow rugose elevated median area. Mesopleuron entirely smooth, with setae in posteroventral and anteroventral parts; most posterodorsal part with striae; mesopleural triangle smooth, with some longitudinal striae and a few setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas smooth, with dense white setae; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangulate, posteriorly higher than height of metanotal trough; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron in upper 1/3 of its height, upper part of sulcus indistinct, sulcus separating smooth, glabrous area, with some setae in lower part. Metascutellum delicately coriaceous, as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, with some setae; central propodeal area lyre-shaped, smooth, glabrous, with very short rugae in the most posterior part; lateral propodeal carinae distinct, bent outwards in posterior 1/3; lateral propodeal area smooth, with long dense white setae. Nucha with delicate sulci dorsally and laterally. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.

Fore wing slightly longer than length of body but shorter and narrower than typically-sized wings in Feron . Fore wing hyaline, with distinct dense cilia on margin, veins light brown, radial cell open, 4.0× as long as broad; R1 and Rs reaching wing margin and slightly projected; areolet small, indistinct. Rs+M narrow, inconspicuous, visible on 2/3 length between areolet and basalis; its projection reaching basalis at half height.

Metasoma as long as head+mesosoma, higher than long in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergum extending to half-length of metasoma in dorsal view, with patch of dense white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; subsequent terga and hypopygium smooth, glabrous, without micropunctures. Prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 5.0× as long as broad in ventral view, with white setae ventrally.

Body length 1.5–2.35 mm (n = 100) ( Weld 1926).

Gall ( Fig. 475 ). Convex mass of tubular galls standing side by side in a compact cluster on the underside of the leaf. The mass measures up to 25 mm long by 15 mm wide. The individual galls are easily detached, white or creamcoloured, up to 9 mm long, tapering gradually from the base to a diameter of about 3 mm at the distal open end, the distal portion covered with tapering spines which are often rosy at the tip. The single larval cell lies midway along the length of the gall and measures about 2 mm long by 1.2 mm in diameter ( Weld 1926).

Biology. Only the asexual generation is known, inducing galls on Q. garryana (section Quercus , subsection Dumosae) ( Weld 1926, Burks 1979). Galls mature in October-November.

Distribution. USA: California.

Figures

FIGURES 464–468. Feron tubifaciens, comb. nov., asexual female. 464–467, head: 464, frontal view, 465, dorsal view, 466, posterior view, 467, lateral view; 468, antenna.

FIGURES 469–472. Feron tubifaciens, comb.nov., asexual female.469, mesosoma andpropleura, frontalview, 470, mesosoma, lateral view, 471, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum, dorsal view, 472, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 473–475. Feron tubifaciens, comb. nov., asexual generation. 473–474, asexual female: 473, fore wing (not scaled), 474, metasoma, lateral view. 475, galls.