Zapatella nievesaldreyi Melika & Pujade-Villar

Pujade-Villar, Juli, Hanson, Paul, Medina, Claudia A., Torres, Miguel & Melika, George, 2012, A new genus of oak gallwasps, Zapatella Pujade-Villar & Melika, gen. n., with a description of two new species from the Neotropics (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini), ZooKeys 210, pp. 75-104 : 83-85

Zapatella nievesaldreyi Melika & Pujade-Villar sp. n.

Type material.

HOLOTYPE female (deposited in IAvH): "COLOMBIA, Boyacá, Villa de Leyva, Vereda sabana, Sector Chaina,, 05°41'05.1"N, 73°29'17.3"W, 2468 m. En Agallas en ramas de Quercus humboldti , (13 May 2010) May-2010. leg. J. Pujade-Villar, C. Medina, M. Torres" (white label), Holotype of Zapatella nievesaldreyi ♀ Melika & Pujade-Villar n. sp. design. JP-V 2012" (red label). PARATYPES (93 females) with the same data as the holotype. 17 paratypes are deposited in UB, 8 in PDL and 70 in IAvH.

Additional material examined.

95 females with the same data as the holotype.

Diagnosis.

See Diagnosis of Zapatella grahami above. It also resembles the Nearctic Callirhytis medularis Weld (see Discussion).

Description

(Figs 19-30). Asexual form.

Length. Female 1.7-2.8 mm (n = 50).

Coloration. Body, antennae and legs uniformly reddish brown, only tips of mandibles, postocciput, propleura and tarsal claws always darker; in some specimens 3rd and subsequent tergites darker.

Head (Figs 19-21). Slightly broader than mesosoma, with few white sparse, short inconspicuous setae, more dense on lower face. Head very slightly transverse, only 1.2-1.3 times as broad as high in anterior view and massive from above, only 1.6-1.8 times as broad as long in dorsal view; gena broadened behind eye, broader than transverse diameter of eye, delicately uniformly reticulate; malar space without sulcus, 0.4-0.5 times as long as eye height, with striae radiating from clypeus and nearly reaching eye margin. Lower face delicately coriaceous, without elevated area medially. Clypeus slightly impressed, setose, alutaceous, rounded and slightly emarginate ventrally, medially not incised, anterior tentorial pits small, indistinct; epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line distinct. POL = OOL, OOL 2.5 times as long as length of lateral ocellus and 1.5 times as long as LOL, interocellar area microreticulate, not elevated; frons, vertex and occiput microreticulate; postocciput and postgenae alutaceous. Labial palpus 3-segmented, terminal peg distinct, all three segments densely setose; maxillary palpus 5-segmented, terminal peg distinct, three terminal segments densely setose.

Antenna (Fig. 25). 11 flagellomeres, slightly longer than combined length of head and mesosoma; pedicel slightly longer than broad; F1 length nearly equal to length of F2 and slightly longer than F3; F6-F10 shorter and broader than preceding segments; F11 2.0 times as long as F10; placodeal sensilla on F5-F11, hardly traceable or invisible on F1-F4.

Mesosoma (Figs 22-23, 27). 1.4 times as long as high, mesoscutum dorsally concave in later view. Pronotum setose, with uniformly delicately reticulate sides, without carinae posterolaterally. Mesoscutum slightly broader than long in dorsal view, with sparse scattered setae; with transverse, delicate interrupted striae which are connected with longitudinally orientated weak striae forming an irregular network of striae, together forming an irregular reticulate surface sculpture. Notauli extending nearly to half length of mesoscutum, deep and broad posteriorly, narrowing toward anterior end, with smooth bottom; median mesoscutal line absent or present in a form of short triangle; parapsidal lines distinct, extending to half length of mesoscutum; anterior parallel lines distinct, extending to 1/3 length of mesoscutum. Mesopleuron uniformly reticulate. Mesoscutellum as broad as long in dorsal view, centrally delicately coriaceous, dull rugose along sides and in posterior 1/3; scutellar foveae transversely ovate, with smooth and shiny bottom, distinctly separated medially by elevated coriaceous area. Metascutellum rugose, higher than height of smooth, shiny ventral impressed area of metanotum; metanotal trough smooth, shiny, with numerous white setae. Propodeum coriaceous, with dense white setae laterally; with smooth, shiny central propodeal area, delimited by distinct parallel lateral carinae, which slightly converge in posterior 1/3; anterior half of central propodeal area with dense white setae, posterior half without setae. Nucha with longitudinal rugae.

Forewing (Fig. 26). Nearly as long as body, pubescent, without cilia on margins; radial cell open, around 3.5 times as long as broad; veins very light, hardly traceable; areolet indistinct, usually invisible; vein Rs+M points slightly below midway along basalis; R1 and Rs never reach wing margin, very inconspicuous, often invisible or absent.

Legs (Fig. 24). Tarsal claws simple, without basal lobe, but with broad base; hind coxae with dense white setae dorsoposteriorly.

Metasoma (Figs 28-29). As long as head and mesosoma together, slightly longer than high; all metasomal tergites smooth and shiny; base of 2nd metasomal tergite with felt-like dense ring of white setae, interrupted dorsally, and a few scattered setae on lateral surface of tergite. Narrow posterior band on 2nd metasomal tergite and all subsequent tergites with very delicate, dense micropunctures. Prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium needle-like, tapering to apex, 6.0-7.0 times as long as broad, with two parallel rows of short, white, scattered setae.

Gall (Fig. 31). Inconspicuous galls in twigs, without visible enlargement (swelling) of the infested twig (branch). The larval cells, 2 × 1 mm, are nested in the wood parallel one to another.

Biology.

Only females are known to induce galls hidden in twigs on Quercus humboldtii . Twigs with galls were collected in May and adult wasps immediately emerged in the same month.

Distribution.

Currently known only from Colombia, Boyaca, from deciduous mixed broad-leaved forests located about 2000 m altitude.

Etymology.

In recognition of the continuing contribution of Dr. José Luis Nieves-Aldrey (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Madrid, Spain) to research on oak gallwasps.

Species transferred to Zapatella .

Five Nearctic Callirhytis species possess the same character set as the above two species and thus they are transferred to Zapatella .