Feron californicum ( Beutenmueller, 1911 ) 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 : 40-44

Feron californicum ( Beutenmueller, 1911) , comb. nov.

Figs 84–96

Philonix californica Beutenmueller, 1911: 69 , female, gall.

Biorhiza californica (Beutenmueller) : Fullaway, 1911: 334.

Trichoteras californicum (Beutenmueller) : Weld, 1951: 625.

Andricus californicum (Beutenmueller) : Melika & Abrahamson, 2002.

Type examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female “5541…”, “ Kern Co. I.XI.92. Cala”, “ Coquilletti coll.”, red label, “Type No. 13722 USNM ”, handwriting label “ Philonix californica Beutnm. ” deposited in USNM, examined by GM.

Additional material. One female labeled as “Sta Barbara Nat. For. Cal., Liebre Sum-t.”, “ Q. dumosa ”, “cut out Novem. 10”, Weld’s handwriting label “ Trichoteras californicum (Beutm.) ” .

Diagnosis. The only Feron species with rudimentary fore wings and indistinct veins.

Re-description. Asexual female ( Figs 84–95 ). Head, antennae, mesosoma, metasoma uniformly rusty brown; legs slightly lighter.

Head delicately coriaceous, frons rugoso-coriaceous, with sparse setae on lower face and postgena, slightly higher than broad and slightly broader than mesosoma in frontal view; 1.9× as broad as long in dorsal view. Broadest part of head in frontal view at mid-height of head. Gena alutaceous-reticulate, not broadened behind eye in frontal view, narrower than transverse diameter of eye; gena in lateral view at least 2.0× narrower than transverse diameter of eye at the dorsal part of eye; ventral part of gena 2.0× broader than dorsal part. Malar space alutaceous, with striae radiating from clypeus and reaching eye; eye 2.2× as high as length of malar space; malar sulcus absent. Inner margins of eyes only slightly converging ventrally. POL 2.5× as long as OOL, OOL 3.2× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus and nearly equal to LOL, lateral ocelli small, black, central ocellus light brown, at least 2.0× as large as lateral ocellus. Antennal toruli located above mid-height of eyes. Transfacial distance 1.4× as long as height of eye; diameter of antennal torulus equal to distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.3× as long as diameter of torulus; lower face alutaceous to delicately coriaceous, with white setae; slightly elevated median area delicately coriaceous, glabrous, without setae; area between torulus and eye with delicate striae. Clypeus impressed, quadrangular, as broad as high, delicately coriaceous, with a few setae scattered all over; ventrally rounded, emarginate, without median incision; anterior tentorial pit large, rounded, deep, epistomal sulcus broad and deep, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons, interocellar area, vertex, occiput uniformly reticulate, with a few delicate striae and setae; area under central ocellus impressed, smooth, glabrous; postocciput glabrous, with numerous delicate longitudinal interrupted parallel striae; postgena smooth, with few setae; posterior tentorial pit large, elongated, area below impressed; occipital foramen slightly shorter than height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulci which diverge until occipital foramen. Antenna longer than head+mesosoma, with 12 flagellomeres (suture between F11 and F12 indistinct), flagellomeres gradually broadened towards apex, pedicel longer than broad, F1 as long as scape+pedicel, 1.3× as long as F2, F2 slightly longer than F3, F3=F4, F5 slightly shorter than F4, subsequent flagellomeres gradually shorter, F12 slightly shorter than F11; placodeal sensilla on F5–F12.

Mesosoma higher than long, with rare setae. Pronotum delicately coriaceous, with some striae laterally, with sparse setae; propleuron coriaceous, with sparse, scattered setae. Mesoscutum longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae), uniformly coriaceous-reticulate. Notaulus complete, deep, posteriorly strongly converging and broader than anteriorly, with smooth, glabrous bottom; at posterior end the distance between notauli shorter than distance between notaulus and side of mesoscutum; anterior parallel line and parapsidal line indistinct, hardly traceable; median mesoscutal line narrow but distinct; parascutal carina broad, reaching notaulus. Mesoscutellum trapezoid, longer than broad, broadest part in posterior 1/3; disc of mesoscutellum uniformly rugose, only just overhanging metanotum, with a few long setae. Mesoscutellar foveae only slightly broader than high, with smooth, glabrous bottom, well-delimited all around by strong carina, divided by an elevated narrow carina. Mesopleuron delicately coriaceous, with transverse delicate striae at mid height, with setae only along ventral edge; mesopleural triangle smooth, with dense white setae and piliferous points; dorsal and lateral axillar areas smooth, with setae; axillula with delicate parallel longitudinal striae; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangular, posteriorly as high as height of metanotal trough; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron in upper 1/3 of mesopleuron height, lower part delimiting delicately coriaceous area with a few setae, upper part of sulcus indistinct. Metascutellum rugose-coriaceous, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, glabrous; central propodeal area lyre-shaped, smooth, glabrous, without rugae; lateral propodeal carinae strong, broad and high, bent outwards in posterior 1/3; lateral propodeal area alutaceous to smooth, with long white setae and piliferous points. Nucha with irregular short rugae dorsally and laterally. Tarsal claws with small basal lobe.

Fore wing rudimentary, as long as head+mesosoma but not reaching the middle of the metasoma, with indistinct veins.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, more than 2.0× as high as mesosoma in lateral view; all metasomal tergites smooth, glabrous, 2nd metasomal tergum extending to half-length of metasoma in dorsal view, with white setae anterolaterally, sparse micropunctures only dorsally; all subsequent terga and hypopygium without micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 5.8× as long as broad in ventral view.

Body length 2.1 mm (n = 1).

Gall ( Fig. 96 ). The monolocular spangle leaf gall is on the upper surface of the leaves, rounded, flattened disc-like, slightly elevated toward the middle, pinkish or purplish, with the apex sometimes yellowish. Sides of the gall are flat and very thin; the larval chamber is in the central elevated part; the diameter of the gall is 3–4 mm, height 1 mm ( Beutenmueller 1911).

Biology. Only the asexual generation is known, which induces galls on Q. cornelius-mulleri , Q. douglasii and Q. dumosa (section Quercus , subsection Dumosae). The gall matures by November and the adult emerges in January. Distribution. USA: California.

Figures

FIGURES 84–89. Feron californicum, comb. nov., asexual female. 84–87, head: 84, frontal view, 85, dorsal view, 86, lateral view, 87, posterior view. 88, antenna. 89, mesosoma and propleura, frontal view.

FIGURES 90–93. Feron californicum, comb. nov., asexual female. 90, mesosoma, lateral view. 91, mesoscutum, dorsal view. 92, mesoscutellum, dorsal view. 93, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 94–96. Feron californicum, comb. nov., 94–95, asexual female: 94, fore wing, 95, metasoma, lateral view. 96, galls (fresh gall images courtesy of J. Gross).