Kokkocynips imbricariae ( Ashmead, 1896 ) Nieves-Aldrey & Nicholls & Tang & Melika & Stone & Pujade-Villar & Buffington & Maldonado & Medianero, 2021

Nieves-Aldrey, José Luis, Nicholls, James A., Tang, Chang-Ti, Melika, George, Stone, Graham N., Pujade-Villar, Juli, Buffington, Matthew, Maldonado, Yurixi & Medianero, Enrique, 2021, Re-description and systematic re-appraisal of the genus Kokkocynips Pujade-Villar & Melika, (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), including new combinations of Nearctic species and the description of a new species from Panama, Zootaxa 4938 (2), pp. 205-232 : 218-221

Kokkocynips imbricariae ( Ashmead, 1896) n. comb. ( Figs. 6 , 10F , 11B )

Andricus imbrecariae Ashmead, 1896 . Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 19, p.122.

Holcaspis fasciata Bassett, 1900 . Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol, 26, p.328. [Syn. by Weld, 1926b: 43].

Dryocosmus fasciatus (Bassett) : Weld, 1922a. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 61, art. 18, p.7.

Dryocosmus imbricariae* (Ashmead) : Weld, 1926b. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 68, 43.

* The original spelling ‘imbrecariae’ is a typographical error and Ashmead had corrected it in his own copy of the paper to align it with the name of the host oak ( Weld, 1926b).

Material examined: syntypes. Andricus imbrecariae . Through CV Riley, No. 714 P on Q. imbricariae, St. L. Mo., Oct 12. 81, Type number 3072, USNM , Andricus imbrecariae, USNMENT 00802135 (USNM).

Missouri. No. 714 P on Q. imbracariae, St. Louis, MO. 12 Oct 1881, CV Riley , USNM type # 3072. Two females. USNMENT01735157 and USNMENT01735158 ( USNM) .

Cotypes. Disholcaspis fasciata . Connecticut. Waterbury, HF Bassett, cotype, USNM type # 27177, Holcaspis fasciata WB Bassett. 17 females. USNMENT01735140-USNMENT01735156 ( USNM) .

Other material examined: USA. Alabama and Florida. Hopkins 15632a. Troy and Dothan, AL; Cottondate, FL. Quercus marilandica and Quercus falcata , October 1919., LH Weld. 10 females. USNMENT01735100-US-NMENT01735109 (USNM). Missouri. Hopkins 10776a. Iorton, Quercus rubra . 12 Oct. 1918. Galls collected on ground, some from twigs; wasps emerged Oct. 1919. 5 females, USNMENT10735116-USNMENT01735120 (USNM). Poplar Bluff, IX.20.1918, LH Weld, ex Q. digitata, Beutt coll. record 1935, 1 female, USNMENT01735159 (USNM). St. Louis, MO., No. 136 on Q. imbracariae, CV Riley , 2 females, USNMENT01735171 and USN-MENT01735172 (USNM). Texas. Hunter 2701, Victoria, ex black jack spkld., X.29.1910; emerged II.1.1912. 11 females. USNMENT01735123, USNMENT01735125-USNMENT01735134 (USNM). Hunter 1369, Victoria, bd stem gall oak, X,17.1905, JD Mitchell, coll. 7 females. USNMENT01735122, USNMENT01735124, USN-MENT01735135-USNMENT01735139 (USNM). Victoria Co., Colleto Creek. 29 Oct. 1905, JD Mitchell, Coll. Issued 20 Nov 1906. 10 females, USNMENT01735160-USNMENT01735169 (USNM). Virginia. Hopkins 10773q. East Falls Church. 3 Oct 1018. Galls collected by Penelope Brown just before falling. Cynipini emerged/mounted Oct. 1919. 5 females. USNMENT01735110-USNMENT01735114 (USNM). Unknown locality. ‘714P’ Sept. 10, 1909, 2 females, USNMENT01735173 and USNMENT01735174 (USNM).

Gall: according to the original description ( Ashmead 1896) the gall is globular, brownish and hard, 7-10 mm in diameter ( Fig. 11B ). The surface of the gall has a striped pattern, and is hence commonly known as the banded bullet gall. The galls typically grow in clusters from a fissure in twigs from the previous year’s growth. The larval cell is nearly always closely cemented to the thick, hard, gall epidermis, but in a single instance there were a few fibers separating it.

Host plant: the species was described from galls collected on Quercus imbricaria and Q. ilicifolia . Weld (1926b) added Quercus marilandica , Q. catesbaei , Q. texana and Q. laurifolia to the host plant records, and later mentioned that it galled all eastern US red oak species ( Weld 1959).

Biology: known only from an asexual generation. Adults emerge from galls from September to October. Galls collected in the autumn produced adults in the following year, but some emerged a year later after diapause ( Ashmead 1896).

Distribution: USA and Canada; originally described from Missouri, and also recorded from many localities from Ontario southwards to Florida and westwards to Texas ( Weld 1926b).

Remarks: this species shares the main diagnostic characters that define Kokkocynips as described herein, although it is readily distinguished from the type species and other Kokkocynips species by the characters given in the identification key. Moreover, our phylogenetic analyses also support transfer of this species to Kokkocynips , placing it sister to the type species (a placement reflected in the very similar gall morphology) and also closely allied to K. difficilis and K. decidua .

Figures

FIG. 6. Kokkocynips imbricariae (Ashmead), n. comb., female, SEM pictures. (A) Head anterior view. (B) Head posterior view. (C) Mesoscutellum (D) Mesosoma lateral view. (E) Metasoma lateral view. (F) Mesoscutum dorso-lateral view. (G) Metatarsal claw. (H) Antenna.

FIG. 10. Female habitus of species of Kokkocynips. (A) Kokkocynips decidua (Beutenmueller) n. comb. (B) Kokkocynips doctorrosae Pujade-Villar. (C) Kokkocynips coxii (Bassett) n. comb. (D) Kokkocynips rileyi (Ashmead) n. comb. (E) Kokkocynips difficilis (Ashmead) n. comb. (F) Kokkocynips imbricariae (Ashmead) n. comb.

FIG. 11. Galls of species of Kokkocynips. (A) K. doctorrosae Pujade-Villar. (B) Kokkocynips imbricariae (Ashmead). (C) Kokkocynips coxii (Basset). (D) Kokkocynips decidua (Beutenmueller). (E) Kokkocynips difficilis (Ashmead). (F) Kokkocynips rileyi (Ashmead). (G) Kokkocynips attractans (Kinsey). (H) Kokkocynips panamensis n. sp.