Kokkocynips coxii ( Bassett, 1881 ) 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 : 221-224

Kokkocynips coxii ( Bassett, 1881) n. comb. ( Figs. 7 , 10C , 11C )

Cynips coxii Bassett, 1881 . Canad. Ent., vol. 13, p.112. [Syn. by Kinsey, 1922: 123-125].

Andricus coxii (Bassett) , Ashmead, 1885. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 12: 295.

Andricus coxi Bassett, 1900 . Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., vol. 26, p.320.

Andricus bassetianus Dalla Torre and Kieffer, 1902 . in Wytsman Gen. Ins. Hym. Cynipidae , p.61. [Syn. by Kinsey, 1922: 123- 125].

Plagiotrichus (sic.) coxii (Bassett) , Kinsey, 1922. Ind. Univ. Stud. 53, pp.122-5.

Plagiotrochus coxii var translatus Kinsey, 1922: 126 n. syn.

Dryocosmus coxii (Bassett) : Weld, 1926b. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 68(10): 41.

Dryocosmus coxii var translatus (Kinsey) Weld, 1951: 646 .

Material examined: paratype. Tucson, AZ. ET Cox, Type (red label), Andricus coxii, WB Bassett, Beut coll. rec’d 1935, Dryocosmus coxii (Bass) . 1 female, USNMENT01525986 ( USNM).

Other material examined: USA. Arizona. Hopkins 15639a. Oracle, AZ. 17 Dec. 1921, Q. emoryi, LH Weld. Wasps emerged between Jan-Sep 1922, most in January. 34 females. USNMENT01525950-USNMENT01525983 ( USNM) . California. Los Angeles, Coll. Ashmead, 1 female, USNMENT01525987 ( USNM). Note on specimen: “Weld questions locality” .

Gall: the galls ( Fig. 11C ) are elongate to globose twig swellings up to 20 mm. in diameter and 65 mm in length; on older twigs from previous years’ growth. Multilocular, smooth surface covered with normal bark. Larval cells closely embedded in the less solid part of the tissue (Kinsey 1922).

Host plant: Quercus emoryi and Quercus hypoleucoides (= hypoleuca Engelm.).

Biology: only known from an asexual generation. The original source is somewhat imprecise about gall phenology, saying that the whole life cycle takes more than one year, as the insects emerge in midwinter and the young galls appear immediately.

Distribution: Arizona, New Mexico and possibly Texas (Kinsey 1922).

Remarks: Kinsey (1922) transferred this species described by Bassett to the genus Plagiotrichus (sic.) (= Plagiotrochus Mayr ) under the mistaken belief that this genus, described from the Western Palaearctic, was also present in North America. In his account of this species Kinsey gave a short re-description, summarized the data on biology and distribution, and described two new varieties. Kinsey (1922) emphasized the particularity of this species as he had some doubts about its correct generic placement, but his placement was finally made based on the structure of the gall. Weld later transferred the species to Dryocosmus , on the basis that “the flies run to Dryocosmus in the Tierreich key” (a reference to the work by Dalla Torre and Kieffer (1910); Weld 1926b).

The species is here transferred to the genus Kokkocynips based on molecular and morphological evidence. The species does not fit well morphologically into either of the above mentioned genera (see Fig. 7 ) as it has a malar sulcus that is complete but weakly impressed ( Fig. 7B ). It can be excluded from Plagiotrochus by the relative length of the hypopygial spine, antennae with F1 clearly longer as F2, the almost smooth and shiny mesoscutum, the absence of facial radiating striae from clypeus and by the different sculpture of the propodeum. It differs from Dryocosmus mainly in the spine of the hypopygium (much shorter in Dryocosmus and with setae reaching beyond apex of spine) and due to the presence of a longitudinal band of sculpture on the mesopleuron (which is absent in Dryocosmus species). The molecular phylogeny ( Fig. 1 ) places K. coxii as sister to the new species K. panamensis , consistent with their similar gall morphologies.

Figures

FIG. 7. Kokkocynips coxii (Bassett), n. comb., female, SEM pictures. (A) Head dorsal view. (B) Head anterior view. (C) Mesosoma dorsal view (D) Mesosoma lateral view. (E) Propodeum. (F) Metasoma lateral view. (G) Antenna. (H) Hypopygium.

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.

FIG. 1. Majority-rule consensus tree of species sampled from across the Cynipini, based on a Bayesian analysis of a concatenation of three loci (cytochrome b, long-wavelength opsin, and the D2 region of the 28S rRNA gene). Black stars at nodes indicate ±95% posterior probability support; white stars indicate 70%-94% posterior probability support. The revised limits of the genus Kokkocynips are indicated by the grey shaded box.