Feron caepula ( 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 : 36-40

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

Figs 72–83

Diplolepis caepula Weld, 1926: 19 , female, gall.

Andricus caepula (Weld) : Weld, 1951: 632.

Type examined. HOLOTYPE: Asexual female “Hillsboro, N.M., April 25”, “ Quercus pungens ”, red label “Type No. 27187 USNM ”, “ Diplolepis caepula Weld ” deposited in USNM, examined by GM. Specimen data and images available at http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/3157da14c-7171-49c8-a07e-672605fcd699.

Additional material. Five females labelled as “ USA, Arizona, 25miles S of Flagstaff on I17, Q. turbinella ; Code AZ798 , galltype 95, leg. J.A. Nicholls, 2007.10.31.”

Diagnosis. Asexual females; as with F. bakkeri (asex), F. rucklei (asex) and F. stellare (asex) the body is never black, the head is rounded in frontal view, slightly elevated median area of the lower face smooth, shining; the gena at least slightly broadened behind the eye; ocelli are not elevated above the frons; the transfacial distance is longer than the height of eye; the antenna with 12 flagellomeres, sometimes suture between F11 and F12 incomplete; toruli are located above the mid-height of the eye; the eye is less than 3.0× as high as length of the malar space; lateral ocelli smaller, OOL at least 2.5× as long as the diameter of 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; and the mesopleuron is entirely smooth. Nevertheless, F. caepula differs from those species in its yellowish to light brown body, eyes strongly converging ventrally; eye 3.0× as high as length of malar space; central part of mesoscutellum smooth; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium around 3.8× as long as broad in ventral view.

Re-description. Asexual female ( Figs 72–82 ). Head, mesosoma, mandibles, mouthparts, antennae, legs and metasoma uniformly light brown; head with dark brown small spots near ocelli; central propodeal area and last terga dark brown to black; legs slightly lighter than body.

Head alutaceous, with sparse setae on lower face and postgena; 1.1× as broad as high and slightly narrower than mesosoma in frontal view; 1.9x as broad as long in dorsal view. Broadest part of head in frontal view at mid-height of lower face. Gena alutaceous-reticulate, only slightly 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 in the dorsal part of eye; ventral part of gena 2.0× as broad as dorsal part. Malar space alutaceous, with striae radiating from clypeus and reaching to half-length of malar space; eye 3.0× as high as length of malar space; malar sulcus absent. Inner margins of eyes strongly 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. Antennal toruli located above mid-height of eyes. Transfacial distance 1.25× as long as height of eye; diameter of antennal torulus 1.8× as great as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.5× as long as diameter of torulus; lower face smooth with white setae; slightly elevated median area and area between toruli smooth and shining, without setae. Clypeus impressed, trapezoid, broader than 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 uniformly reticulate, without striae and setae; area under central ocellus impressed, smooth, glabrous; occiput alutaceous, with dense setae; 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 strong postgenal sulci which diverge until occipital foramen, ending in posterior tentorial pit. Antenna nearly as long as body, with 12 flagellomeres (suture between F11 and F12 indistinct), pedicel longer than broad, F1 shorter than length of scape+pedicel, 1.3× as long as F2, F2 slightly longer than F3, F3=F4, subsequent flagellomeres shorter and nearly equal in length, F12 slightly longer than F11; placodeal sensilla on F5–F12.

Mesosoma longer than high, with sparse setae on pronotum laterally, on mesopleural triangle, mesoscutellum and lateral area of propodeum. Pronotum smooth, with setae laterally, piliferous points along dorsal edge; anterolateral edge of pronotum smooth, glabrous, without foveae; propleuron smooth, with sparse white setae. Mesoscutum longer than broad (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae), uniformly alutaceous-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 indistinct, hardly traceable; parapsidal line marked with impressed stripe; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina broad, reaching notaulus. Mesoscutellum trapezoid, longer than broad, broadest part in posterior 1/3; center part of mesoscutellum smooth, glabrous, rugose posteriorly and laterally, overhanging metanotum, with a few long setae. Mesoscutellar foveae transverse, broader than high, with smooth, glabrous bottom, divided by a narrow stripe. Mesopleuron entirely smooth, 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, with nearly parallel sides, posteriorly slightly shorter than height of metanotal trough; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron at half of its height, lower part delimiting smooth area with few setae, upper part of sulcus indistinct. Metascutellum rugose, as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, with few setae; central propodeal area lyre-shaped, smooth, glabrous, with net of strong rugae in most posterior part; lateral propodeal carinae strong, broad and high, bent outwards in posterior 1/3; lateral propodeal area smooth, with long white setae and piliferous points. Nucha with longitudinal sulci dorsally and laterally and a net of irregular rugae. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.

Fore wing longer than body, hyaline, with short dense cilia on margin, veins distinct, radial cell open, 4.1× as long as broad; Rs and R1 nearly reaching wing margin; areolet small, triangular, closed, distinct. Rs+M light pigmented, hardly traceable, visible on 1/2 of distance from areolet to basalis, its projection reaching basalis at half of its height.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, longer than high in lateral view; 2nd metasomal tergum extending to 2/3 length of metasoma in dorsal view, with white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; all subsequent terga with rare, weak, very delicate micropunctures. Hypopygium with micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 3.8–4.0× as long as broad in ventral view with some sparse setae ventrally.

Body length 1.7–1.9 mm (n = 5).

Gall ( Fig. 83 ). Small leaf galls on underside of leaf, 3 mm in diameter with small point in centre of gall, shaped rather like an onion or garlic bulb, pinkish to reddish-brown.

Biology. Only the asexual generation is known, which induces galls on Q. pungens (section Quercus , subsection Polymorphae) and the section Quercus , subsection Leucomexicana oaks: Q. arizonica , Q. oblongifolia , Q. turbinella ( Burks 1979) . The asexual galls mature by October–November, and adults emerge by April.

Distribution. USA: Arizona, New Mexico ( Burks 1979).

Figures

FIGURES 72–77. Feron caepula, comb. nov., asexual female. 72–75, head: 72, frontal view, 73, dorsal view, 74, lateral view, 75, posterior view. 76, antenna. 77, mesosoma and propleura, frontal view.

FIGURES 78–81. Feron caepula, comb. nov., asexual female. 78, mesosoma, lateral view. 79, mesoscutum, dorsal view. 80, mesoscutellum, dorsal view. 81, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 82–83. Feron caepula, comb. nov., 82, asexual female, metasoma, lateral view. 83, gall.