Feron apiarium ( Weld, 1944 ) 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 : 22-26

Feron apiarium ( Weld, 1944) , comb. nov.

Figs 25–36

Liodora apiarium Weld, 1944: 6 , female, gall.

Andricus apiarum (Weld) : Melika & Abrahamson, 2002: 162 [misspelling]

Types examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female No. 56376. Five paratypes are deposited in the USNM and were examined by GM. Specimen data and images available at http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/355e5568d-b757-4f7c-8e96- a0ef983d8d67 . Paratypes were deposited also in the American and Chicago Museums, Museum of Comparative Zoology , Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and California Academy of Sciences. One paratype female and one gall on one pin “ E. Falls Church, Va, mar. 7’42”, “ Quercus alba ”, “648”, red label “ Paratype 56376” .

Diagnosis. This asexual form belongs to the group of species with a black body, the scape, pedicel, F1, F2 are dark brown (sometimes light brown but never yellowish), legs are reddish brown with at least hind coxae darker; the frons is flat, not or only slightly bulging in frontal view; toruli are located in the upper half of the head, inner margins of eyes never strongly converging ventrally; the mesoscutum smooth or partially alutaceous anteriorly and glabrous, notaulus complete, the mesopleuron entirely smooth without transverse striae in central part, the mesoscutellum is uniformly alutaceous with numerous setae on piliferous points and the prominent part of the ventral spine of the hypopygium with setae; similar to F. kingi (sex) and F. pattersonae (sex). Feron apiarium differs from these two species in the eyes which are parallel and 1.7× as high as length of the malar space, antennomeres have long and erect setae, OOL only slightly longer than the diameter of lateral ocellus, the notaulus is deep and the prominent part of the ventral spine of the hypopygium has long dense white setae ventrally.

Re-description. Asexual female. Head, antenna, mesosoma, black; legs, metasoma slightly lighter, reddish brown.

Head alutaceous, with sparse white setae on lower face, 1.2× as broad as high and as broad as mesosoma in frontal view, 2.0× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena alutaceous, not broadened behind eye in frontal view, narrower than transverse diameter of eye in lateral view. Malar space alutaceous, shining, with delicate striae radiating from clypeus and nearly reaching eye, malar sulcus absent; eye 1.7× as high as length of malar space. Eyes slightly converging ventrally. POL 1.6× as long as OOL, OOL slightly longer than diameter of lateral ocellus and 1.8× as long as LOL, all ocelli ovate, of same size. Transfacial distance 1.2× as long as height of eye; toruli located at half height of head; diameter of antennal torulus as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye slightly shorter than diameter of torulus; lower face alutaceous, with white setae, without striae; slightly elevated median area alutaceous, glabrous, without setae. Clypeus rectangular, nearly 2.0× as broad as high, smooth, with long setae; ventrally rounded, not emarginate and without median incision; anterior tentorial pit large, rounded, indistinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line inconspicuous. Frons, interocellar area, vertex, occiput uniformly alutaceous, without striae and setae, with some piliferous points; postocciput alutaceous, smooth, glabrous along occipital foramen; postgena for the most part reticulate, smooth and glabrous along occipital foramen, postgenal bridge and hypostomata; posterior tentorial pit large, ovate, area below impressed; occipital foramen higher than height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulci which strongly diverge toward occipital foramen, postgenal bridge anteriorly as broad as occipital foramen.Antenna as long as head+mesosoma, antennomeres with long setae, with 12 flagellomeres, pedicel slightly longer than broad, flagellomeres slightly broadened towards apex; F1 2.0× as long as pedicel and 1.2× as long as F2; F2 1.2× as long as F3; F3=F4, F5=F6=F7, subsequent flagellomeres nearly equal in length; placodeal sensilla on F4–F12.

Mesosoma slightly longer than high, with sparse white setae, denser on lateral propodeal area. Pronotum alutaceous, with sparse dense setae, with a few delicate striae anteroventrally; propleuron smooth, glabrous, shining on ventral invaginated broad half, delicately coriaceous in the dorsal narrowed part. Mesoscutum alutaceous, with a few setae anteriorly, along notaulus and parascutal carina, with denser setae along anterior edge, slightly longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae). Notaulus complete, narrow, deep, with smooth bottom, posteriorly converging; anterior parallel line, parapsidal line not marked, invisible; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina broad, reaching notaulus. Mesoscutellum rounded, slightly longer than broad, uniformly alutaceous, with numerous setae on piliferous points, with net of strong irregular rugae posteriorly, overhanging metanotum; circumscutellar carina complete. Mesoscutellar foveae separated by narrow elevated coriaceous central carina, ovate, with smooth, glabrous bottom. Mesopleuron and speculum uniformly smooth, shining; mesopleural triangle smooth, glabrous, with some delicate striae and sparse white setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas delicately coriaceous, with a few white setae; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, with parallel sides, as high as height of metanotal trough, slightly higher at posterior end; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron slightly above half of its height, delimiting coriaceous area, upper part of sulcus distinct. Metascutellum coriaceous, glabrous, slightly shorter than height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, glabrous, without setae; central propodeal area smooth, glabrous, with a few irregular rugae; lateral propodeal carinae bent slightly outwards at mid-height; lateral propodeal area smooth, with dense white setae. Nucha with sulci dorsally and laterally. Tarsal claws toothed, with acute basal lobes.

Fore wing longer than body, hyaline, with cilia on margin, veins brown, distinct, radial cell open, narrow, 4.4× as long as broad; R1and Rs nearly reaching wing margin; areolet distinct. Rs+M distinct on 2/3 of distance between areolet and basalis, its projection reaching basalis at its mid height.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, longer than high in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergum extending to 1/3 length of metasoma in dorsal view, with setae on anterodorsal part and a row of a few setae laterally at mid height, without micropunctures; subsequent terga smooth, glabrous, without micropunctures. Hypopygium without micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium short, slightly longer than broad in ventral view, with long dense white setae ventrally.

Body length 1.7–2.6 mm (n = 21) ( Weld 1944).

Gall ( Fig. 36 ). Solitary, sessile, on underside of leaf close to edge, shaped like an old-fashioned straw beehive, white or pinkish, up to 4.6 mm broad by 4.0 mm high. Inside is a large cavity with a transverse larval cell at the very base. During the winter on the ground the outer fleshy layer shrivels and the gall becomes more cylindrical ( Weld 1944).

Biology. Only females are known. Leaf galls on Q. alba (section Quercus , subsection Albae ). Mature galls in October; adults emerge next year, in February–March.

Distribution. USA: Washington DC, VA ( Burks 1979).

Figures

FIGURES 25–30. Feron apiarium, comb. nov., asexual female. 25–28, head: 25, frontal view, 26, dorsal view, 27, lateral view, 28, posterior view. 29, antenna. 30, mesosoma and propleura, frontal view.

FIGURES 31–34. Feron apiarium, comb. nov., asexual female. 31, mesosoma, lateral view. 32, mesoscutum, dorsal view. 33, mesoscutellum, dorsal view. 34, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 35–36. Feron apiarium, comb. nov.. 35, asexual female, metasoma, lateral view. 36, gall.