Feron stellare ( 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 : 120-123

Feron stellare ( Weld, 1926) , comb. nov.

Figs 354–366

Andricus stellaris Weld, 1926: 84 , female, gall.

Type examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female “ Sequoia Nat. Park , Cal.”, “ Q. garryana ”, “1783”, red label “Type No. 27215 USNM ”, “ Andricus stellaris Weld ” deposited in USNM, examined by GM. Specimen data and images available at http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/303039ff4-e0fe-4064-be9c-dbe097c266ba.

Additional material. Asexual females. One female, designated as voucher specimen, compared with types at the USNM, by GM, labeled as “ USA, California, Round Valley, CA1174 , galltype 119; Q. garryana , leg. J.A. Nicholls, 2006.02.09 ”; one female “ USA, California, Dye Creek Preserve, CA1169 , galltype 135; Q. douglasii , leg. J.A. Nicholls ” .

Diagnosis. Asexual females belong to the group of Feron species in which the body is not black; the head is rounded in frontal view with a smooth and shining slightly elevated median area of lower face; the gena at least slightly broadened behind the eye; ocelli are not elevated above the frons; inner margins of eyes are parallel or very slightly converging ventrally; the transfacial distance is longer than height of the eye; the antenna with 12 flagellomeres, sometimes suture between F11 and F12 incomplete; toruli are located above the mid-height of eyes; the eye is less than 3.0× as high as length of the malar space; lateral ocelli are smaller, OOL at least 2.5× as long as the diameter of the ocellus, if shorter then the head and mesosoma are not yellowish or light brown; the pronotum laterally with longitudinal carinae; the mesoscutum is alutaceous to coriaceous, rugose-reticulate, reticulate, without piliferous points; mesoscutellar foveae divided by a central carina; the mesopleuron is entirely smooth; as in F. bakkeri (asex), F. caepula (asex), F. rucklei (asex), and F. scutellum (asex). Nevertheless, this species differs from F. caepula in the brown body colour, sometimes with darker marks and parallel eyes, while F. caepula is yellowish to light brown with eyes strongly convergent ventrally. Differs from F. bakkeri in having mesoscutellar foveae conspicuous and smooth, while inconspicuous and faintly rugose in F. bakkeri . Differs from F. scutellum in the coarsely rugose mesoscutellar disk, while it is faintly reticulated and with a median elevated area in F. scutellum . The most similar species is F. rucklei but differs in the antennae having the first flagellomeres lighter than subsequent ones, the notaulus is incomplete, mesoscutellar foveae delimited posteriorly by a strong black carina, and metasoma without micropunctures.

Re-description. Asexual female ( Figs 354–365 ). Head, antennae, mouthparts, mesosoma, metasoma dark brown, with darker mesoscutellum and propodeum; legs slightly lighter than body.

Head rounded with white setae on lower face, occiput, postocciput and postgena, slightly broader than high and as broad as mesosoma in frontal view; 1.7× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena alutaceous, slightly broadened behind eye in frontal view, slightly narrower than transverse diameter of eye in lateral view. Malar space with a few striae radiating from clypeus and reaching eye; eye 2.7× as high as length of malar space; malar sulcus absent. Inner margins of eyes slightly converging ventrally. POL 1.7× as long as OOL, OOL 2.7× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus and slightly longer than LOL, all ocelli ovate, of the same size. Transfacial distance 1.2× longer than height of eye; toruli located in the upper half of head and frons distinctly shorter than lower face; diameter of antennal torulus 1.4× as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye slightly longer than diameter of torulus; lower face smooth with white setae and piliferous points; slightly elevated median area smooth, area between toruli reticulate. Clypeus rectangular, broader than high, delicately coriaceous, with a few long setae scattered all over; ventrally rounded, emarginate, without median incision; anterior tentorial pit small, rounded, distinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons, interocellar area, vertex, occiput uniformly reticulate, without striae and setae; area under central ocellus impressed, smooth, glabrous; postocciput and postgena alutaceous, with few setae; posterior tentorial pit large, elongated, area below impressed; occipital foramen as high as height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into distinct postgenal sulci which diverge strongly toward occipital foramen, postgenal bridge anteriorly slightly broader than occipital foramen. Antenna longer than head+mesosoma, with 12 flagellomeres (suture between F12 and F11 not always distinct but present); all flagellomeres with dense setae; pedicel 1.6x as long as broad; F1 2.3× as long as pedicel and 1.4× as long as F2; F2=F3=F4, F5=F6, subsequent flagellomeres gradually shorter, F12 slightly shorter than F11; placodeal sensilla white on F6–F12.

Mesosoma as long as high, with a few setae. Pronotum smooth, glabrous dorsally; laterally coriaceous, with denser setae on the anterior margin and delicate striae along posterior edge; propleuron smooth, with sparse white setae. Mesoscutum longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae), uniformly aluraceous-reticulate; with scattered white setae. Notaulus incomplete, not impressed in anterior 1/4, deep in posterior 3/4 of mesoscutum length, posteriorly converging; at posterior end the distance between notauli shorter than distance between notaulus and side of mesoscutum. Anterior parallel line nearly absent, indicated only by some smooth areas; parapsidal line narrow, impressed, extending to half-length of mesoscutum; parascutal carina narrow, anteriorly reaching notaulus; median mesoscutal line in the form of a short smooth triangle. Mesoscutellum trapezoid, longer than broad, with subparallel sides, broadest part in posterior 1/3; circumscutellar carina broad, distinct laterally and posteriorly; mesoscutellum rugoso-coriaceous, overhanging metanotum, with long setae. Mesoscutellar foveae ovate, broader than high, with smooth, glabrous bottom, delimited all around by distinct black carina. Mesopleuron entirely smooth, with setae denser along ventral edge; mesopleural triangle smooth, with dense white setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas smooth, glabrous, without setae; axillula with delicate parallel longitudinal striae; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangular, posteriorly as high as height of metanotal trough; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron above half of its height, on lower part sulcus delimiting smooth, glabrous area with dense setae; upper part of sulcus indistinct. Metascutellum coriaceous, 2.0x as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, with dense setae; central propodeal area lyre-shaped, smooth, glabrous; lateral propodeal carinae strong, broad and high, bent outwards in posterior 1/3; lateral propodeal area smooth, with long white setae. Nucha with net of numerous irregular rugae. Tarsal claws with acute basal lobe.

Fore wing longer than body, hyaline, with distinct dense cilia on margin, veins light brown, radial cell open, 4.5× as long as broad; Rs and R1 nearly reaching wing margin; areolet triangular, small, closed and indistinct. Rs+M indistinct, invisible.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, slightly higher than long in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergum extending to half-length of metasoma in dorsal view, with numerous white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; all subsequent terga and hypopygium without micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 6.3× as long as broad in ventral view.

Body length 1.7–2.1 mm (n = 3).

Gall ( Fig. 366 ). A hemispherical gall, 3–4 mm in diameter and 2 mm high, covered with short, blunt crystalline protuberances with a circle of 12–15 longer, broad projections at the base, attached singly or scattered in small numbers on the underside of the leaf. The galls are yellowish-white, often tinged with red. The larval cell lies transversely in the very base of the gall and above it is a cavity above which the crystalline wall of the upper part of the gall is very thick ( Weld 1926).

Biology. Only the asexual generation is known, which induces leaf galls on Q. douglasii and Q. garryana (section Quercus , subsection Dumosae) in autumn, the adults emerge the next spring in March ( Weld 1926).

Distribution. USA: California ( Burks 1979).

Figures

FIGURES 354–359. Feron stellare, comb. nov., asexual female. 354–357, head: 354, frontal view, 355, posterior view, 356, dorsal view, 357, lateral view. 358, antenna. 359, mesosoma, frontal view.

FIGURES 360–363. Feron stellare, comb. nov., asexual female. 360, mesosoma, lateral view. 361, mesoscutum, dorsal view. 362, mesoscutellum, dorsal view. 363, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 364–366. Feron stellare, comb. nov., asexual generation. 364–365, asexual female: 364, fore wing, 365, metasoma, lateral view. 366, galls (top right image courtesy of J. Gross).