Cynips izzetbaysali Melika, Mutun & Dinç, 2020

Mutun, Serap, Dinç, Serdar & Melika, George, 2020, Two new species of oak gall wasps from Turkey (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae Cynipini), Zootaxa 4890 (3), pp. 428-438 : 429-432

Cynips izzetbaysali Melika, Mutun & Dinç , sp. nov. ( Figs 1–12, 13–14 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:362A3934-5DA2-4D76-8A97-7E2814BB0A18

Type material: HOLOTYPE female: ” TURKEY, Sivas-Eskimeşe N 40.27079, E 38.15054; 859 m a.s.l., ex Q. infectoria . Leg. S. Mutun & S. Dinc, Coll. 2017.09.07, adult emerge 2017.10.02.”. The holotype and 2 paratype females, with the same labels as the holotype, are deposited in BAIBU.

Material examined. Twelve galls were collected from Sivas Eskimeşe village , N 40.27079, E 38.15054 , 859 m a.s. l., 2017.09.07.

Representative DNA sequence. MT 782066 (cyt b gene)

Etymology. Named in honour of Izzet Baysal , who was a great philanthropist, father of Bolu, founder of the Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, in Bolu city, Turkey .

Diagnosis. The newly described species most closely resembles C. baskalei Azmas & Katilmiş. In C. izzetbaysali , sp. nov., antenna with 11 flagellomeres, frons without elevated narrow central triangular area, OOL 3.1x as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, metascutellum nearly 3.0x as high as height of ventral impressed area, while in C. baskalei antenna with 12 flagellomeres, frons with strongly elevated narrow central triangular area, OOL 2.0x as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, metascutellum nearly as high as height of ventral impressed area. Morphological differences between the two species are hardly discernable, thus the different shape of the galls is important for the differentiation of the two species.The asexual generation of C. baskalei (Azmaz & Katilmiş 2020) also induces leaf galls on Quercus macranthera , Q. petraea and Q. pubescens (only known from Turkey), however, these galls are more rounded and attached to the leaf by a distinct peduncle.

Description. ASEXUAL female (holotype) ( Figs 1–12 ). Head yellowish-brown in frontal view, with darker central portion of frons, lower face and clypeus; mandibles and palpi yellow; head posteriorly dark brown. Antenna uniformly brown. Propleuron dark brown. Pronotum yellowish brown with darker anterior edge; mesopleuron yellowish brown on speculum, dark brown along anterior and ventral parts; mesoscutum yellowish brown, dark brown between notauli in anterior half, with dark brown stripes between notaulus and parapsidal line; mesoscutellum uniformly yellowish brown, with slightly darker scutellar foveae; metapleuron dark brown; metascutellum, metanotal trough, propodeum, mesosoma ventrally dark brown, nucha yellowish brown. Legs uniformly light brown, except darker basal part of coxae, all legs uniformly covered with long, dense white setae. Metasoma yellowish-brown, with second metasomal tergite darker in anterior half.

Head 1.3x as broad as high in frontal view, 2.1x as broad as high in dorsal view and as broad as mesosoma. Gena delicately reticulate, slightly narrower than cross diameter of eye, not broadened behind eye, not visible in frontal view behind eye. Malar space reticulate, with short dark striae radiating from clypeus but not reach eye margin, malar sulcus absent. Eye 2.8x as high as height of malar space. POL 1.5x as long as OOL; OOL 1.4x as long as LOL and 3.1x as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, ocelli ovate, silver, equal in size and shape. Transfacial distance 1.6x as long as height of eye, 2.3x as long as height of lower face (distance between antennal rim and ventral margin of clypeus); diameter of antennal torulus as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye margin slightly shorter than diameter of torulus. Lower face smooth, glabrous, median area not elevated, both with scattered long white setae. Clypeus smooth, glabrous, quadrangular, nearly as broad as high, with parallel sides, concave, ventrally not emarginate, straight, not incised medially, with distinct deep anterior tentorial pits, distinct epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line. Frons reticulate, with smooth, glabrous impression under median ocellus, with scattered long white setae. Vertex, occiput and interocellar area delicately reticulate. Postocciput around occipital foramen impressed, smooth, glabrous; postgena reticulate, with dense short white setae; posterior tentorial pit large, ovate, deep, area below impressed; height of occipital foramen shorter than height of smooth, glabrous postgenal bridge which is broader than occipital foramen; hypostomal carina emarginate, postgenal sulcus bends outwards in anterior half. Antenna with long dense white setae, with 11 flagellomeres, as long as head+mesosoma; pedicel slightly shorter than scape, longer than broad, F1 the longest flagellomere, 2.4x as long as pedicel, 1.2x as long as F2, F2 1.25x as long as F3, F3=F4, F5 gradually shortening till F10; F11 2.0x as long as F10; placoid sensillae on F4–F11, absent on F1–F3.

Mesosoma slightly longer than high in lateral view; with scattered long white setae. Pronotum smooth, glabrous, with scattered white setae. Anterior rim of pronotum narrow, emarginate; propleuron smooth, glabrous, with white dense setae, strongly concave in mediocentral part. Mesoscutum slightly longer than broad (width measured across base of tegulae); smooth, glabrous, with dense white setae between notauli in the anterior half and aside of notauli. Notaulus complete, reaching pronotum, well-impressed, with smooth shining bottom; median mesoscutal and anterior parallel lines absent; parapsidal line indicates by smooth, glabrous elevated stripes. Mesoscutellum delicately uniformly coriaceous, ovate, slightly longer than broad, overhanging metanotum, posteriorly with strong longitudinal rugae; anteriorly with semilunar impression. Scutellar fovea transverse, 2.0x as broad as high with indistinct elevated median carina, with smooth, glabrous bottom. Mesopleuron, including speculum, smooth glabrous, with dense setae ventrally and anteriorly; mesopleural triangle smooth, glabrous, with dense short white setae. Metapleural sulcus distinct, delimiting area with very dense white setae, reach mesopleuron in upper 1/3rd; preaxilla coriaceous; dorsoaxillar and lateroaxillar areas smooth, glabrous, with dense white setae. Metascutellum smooth, glabrous, nearly 3.0x as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area. Lateral propodeal carinae subparallel, lyre-shaped, delimiting smooth, glabrous central area without wrinkles; lateral propodeal area smooth, glabrous, with very dense white setae; nucha short, smooth, without striae.

Forewing longer than body, with brown veins, margin with dense, long cilia; radial cell 4.0 times as long as broad, R1 and Rs nearly reach wing margin; Rs+M distinct in distal 3/4, its projection reaching basalis at half height, areolet triangular, well-delimited. All tibiae with dense, long, white setae. Tarsal claws with acute, deep basal lobe.

Metasoma longer than head+mesosoma, 1.5x as long as high in lateral view, smooth, glabrous, without micropunctures. Second metasomal tergite occupying more than half the length of the metasoma, with scattered long white setae laterally, absent dorsally; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium short, broad, with parallel sides, around 2.5x as long as broad, with tuft of dense long setae reaching far beyond the spine.

Body length 2.8–2.9 mm (n=2).

Gall ( Figs 13–14 ). Oval to barrel shaped gall, sometimes with size irregularities in gall body, 3.0–6.0 mm in diameter and 5.0–8.0 mm in height. Develops on the underside of leaves, attached to leaf veins directly. Gall is mostly found on the leaves of young shoots. Young galls are greenish to light brown, becoming medium brown with irregular reddish to brown spots on the surface, later in development the spots transform into a tuberculate form, otherwise the gall surface is smooth without hairs. Monolocular, with a single oval larval chamber located near the base of the gall. There is no space between the chamber and the gall tissue.

Biology. Only the asexual females are known to induce detachable leaf galls on Q. infectoria . Mature galls were collected at the beginning of September; adults emerged in October. Galls were often found with Cynips cornifex in the same area.

Comments. The maximum parsimony tree of the mitochondrial cyt b gene places C. izzetbaysali , sp. nov., in the clade with other Western Palearctic Cynips L. species, as a sister species to C. quercusfolii .

Distribution. Turkey, Sivas-Eskimeşe.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Cynips izzetbaysali, sp. nov., asexual female. 1–4, head: 1, frontal view, 2, dorsal view, 3, lateral view, 4, posterior view. 5, antenna. 6, propleura and foreleg, frontal view.

FIGURES 7–10. Cynips izzetbaysali, sp. nov., asexual female. 7, mesosoma, lateral view. 8, mesoscutum, dorsal view. 9, mesoscutellum, dorsal view. 10, metascutellum and propodeum, posterodorsal view.

FIGURES 11–14. Cynips izzetbaysali, sp. nov., asexual female. 11, metasoma, lateral view. 12, ventral spine of hypopygium, ventral view. 13–14, asexual galls.