Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae ( Karsch, 1880 ), 1979

Lobato-Vila, Irene & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2019, Revision of world Ceroptresini (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) with the description of a new genus and five new species, Zootaxa 4685 (1), pp. 1-67 : 49-51

Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae ( Karsch, 1880)

( Figures 4g , 8 e–f)

Diplolepis q. obtusilobae Karsch, 1880 . Ztschr. f. Gesam. Naturw. 53: 292. Type material: Für Natur.

Cynips obtusilobae (Karsch) Dalla-Torre, 1893 . Cat. Hym. 2: 74 [unjustified emendation].

Neuroterus quercus-obtusilobae (Karsch) Dalla-Torre and Kieffer, 1910 . Das Tierreich 24: 341.

Ceroptres obtusilobensis (Karsch) Weld, 1951 . U. S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Monog. 2: 614 [unjustified emendation in front of Ceroptres obtusilobae Ashmead, 1885: 300 , not a homonymous name and now in Synergus , see remarks].

Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae (Karsch) Burks in Krombein et al. 1979 . Smithson. Ins. Press: 1065.

Type material (examined). LECTOTYPE (♀) with the following labels: ‘ Texas Boll’ (green label, handwritten) / ‘21985’ (white label) / ‘Neuroterus’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘Zool. Mus. Berlin’ (white label) / ‘ Lectotype ♀ Diplolepis q. obtusilobae Karsch, 1880 , IL-V desig-2019’ (red label) / ‘ Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae ( Karsch, 1880) Weld, 1951 , IL-V det. 2019’ (white label). PARALECTOTYPES (2♀) with the following labels: ‘ Texas Boll’ (green label, handwritten) / ‘21985’ (white label) / ‘Inquilins Ceroptres sp.’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘Zool. Mus. Berlin’ (white label) / ‘ Paralectotype ♀ Diplolepis q. obtusilobae Karsch, 1880 , IL-V desig-2019’ (red label) / ‘ Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae ( Karsch, 1880) Weld, 1951 , IL-V det. 2019’ (white label) (1♀); ‘ Texas Boll’ (green label, handwritten) / ‘21985’ (white label) / ‘Zool. Mus. Berlin’ (white label) / ‘ Paralectotype ♀ Diplolepis q. obtusilobae Karsch, 1880 , IL-V desig-2019’ (red label) / ‘ Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae ( Karsch, 1880) Weld, 1951 , IL-V det. 2019’ (white label) (1♀).

Diagnosis. This species can be separated from the rest of Ceroptres by the following combination of morphological traits: female antenna 12-segmented and almost filiform (males unknown); vertical carinae on the lower face incomplete and very narrow, running from inner ventral margin of the toruli about 1/3 of the lower face length; mesoscutum alutaceous with some weak discontinuous transversal elements; notauli almost complete and narrow, but faint before reaching the pronotal margin; median groove visible in the posterior 1/3 of the mesoscutum; mesoscutellum moderately strong and densely wrinkled, interspaces alutaceous; third metasomal tergum without punctures, but subsequent terga finely punctate; radial cell 2.7 times as long as wide; body reddish brown and rufous (dark brown according to the original description). Ceroptres quercusobtusilobae is morphologically similar to C. snellingi Lyon, 1996 , from which can be distinguished by the sculpture of the mesoscutum (coriaceous with some small punctures in C. snellingi ) and the mesoscutellum (anteriorly and medially strongly coriaceous to weakly wrinkled with interspaces coriaceous in C. snellingi ); the length of the hypopygial spine (1.3 times as wide as long in C. quercusobtusilobae and 1.7 in C. snellingi ), among others (see the descriptions of both species and the key to valid species of Ceroptres ).

Redescription. Female. Length. Body length 1.8–2.3 mm (n=3).

Color ( Figs 4g , 8 e–f). Reddish brown and rufous. Head and mesosoma reddish brown to black; tegulae yellow, propodeum rufous. Antennae and legs yellow to testaceous. Metasoma rufous. Wings hyaline, veins pale yellow.

Head. In anterior view ( Fig. 4g ) round-shaped, almost 1.2 times as wide as high, genae not expanded behind compound eyes. Face with moderately long but no dense pubescence, lower face with long striae radiating from sides of clypeus, reaching the base of compound eyes and almost the toruli; medially without striae; vertical carinae incomplete and very narrow, running from inner ventral margin of the toruli about 1/3 of the lower face length and delimiting a depressed area that is slightly bulged just above the clypeus. Clypeus distinct, not projected over mandibles. Malar space about 0.5 times as long as height of compound eye. Anterior tentorial pits visible; pleurostomal sulcus absent, epistomal sulcus slightly impressed. Transfacial line about as long as height of compound eye. Toruli situated mid-height of compound eye; distance between torulus and compound eye slightly shorter than diameter of the toruli; distance between the toruli clearly shorter than diameter of the toruli. Front finely coriaceous and with scarce small piliferous punctures; without frontal carinae. Head in dorsal view is about 2.3 times as wide as long. Vertex finely coriaceous and with scarce small piliferous punctures. POL:OOL:LOL = 14:7:6 and diameter of lateral ocelli, 4. Occiput finely coriaceous, without punctures.

Antennae ( Fig. 8e ). 12-segmented; almost filiform; pubescence dense and short. Scape plus pedicel longer than F1; pedicel almost 1.3 times as long as wide; F1 0.8 times as long as F2, F2 and F3 subequal, the following segments progressively shorter. Last flagellar segment about 3.0 times as long as wide and 2.0 times as long as F9.

Mesosoma. About 1.3 times as long as high in lateral view ( Fig. 8e ), including nucha, with moderately long and dense pubescence. Ratio of length of pronotum medially/laterally: 0.4. Dorsal part of pronotal plate complete but not well marked, with two distinct closely spaced foveae. Lateral pronotum finely coriaceous to alutaceous; without lateral carina. Mesoscutum ( Fig. 8f ) 1.3 times as wide as long, alutaceous with some weak discontinuous transversal elements; anterior grooves extending at most 1/3 of the mesoscutal length. Notauli almost complete and narrow, but faint before reaching the pronotal margin, wider posteriorly. Parapsidal grooves inconspicuous. Median groove visible at most in the posterior 1/3 of the mesoscutum. Mesoscutellum about as long as wide, moderately strong and densely wrinkled, especially laterally and posteriorly, interspaces alutaceous; circumscutellar carina absent; scutellar foveae small, ovate, shallow, sculptured, not well defined and separated by a narrow carina. Mesopleuron ( Fig. 8e ) smooth and shiny; little pubescent basally. Metapleural sulcus reaching almost 4/5 parts of the mesopleural height. Propodeum pubescent and smooth; propodeal carinae straight and parallel, posteriorly branched. Nucha weakly sculptured dorsally and laterally, not sulcate.

Legs. Tarsal claws bidentate, with a small basal lobe.

Wings. Forewings pubescent with moderately long marginal setae, longer than total body length. Radial cell closed, 2.7 times as long as wide; areolet not well defined, anterior and basal veins inconspicuous. Rs+M inconspicuous. Basal cell with sparsely spaced setae.

Metasoma ( Fig. 8e ). About as long as head plus mesosoma and slightly longer than high in lateral view. First metasomal tergum crescent-shaped and smooth. Second metasomal tergum short and free, 0.3 times as long as metasomal length and with a dense hair patch anterolaterally. Third metasomal tergum without punctures, not dorsodistally incised; subsequent terga and hypopygium, finely punctate. Prominent part of the hypopygial spine about 1.3 times as long as wide and slightly projected.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. USA. State of Texas ( Karsch 1880).

Biology. Reared from an undetermined woody tuberous gall on Quercus stellata Wengenh. (= Q. obtusiloba Michx. ) ( Quercus section ) according to Weld (1951).

Remarks. Weld (1951: 614) named this species as ‘ obtusilobensis’ in a supposed homonymy with C. obtusilobae Ashmead, 1885 (now Synergus obtusilobae ( Ashmead, 1885)) , but the original name of Karsch’s species is ‘ quercusobtusilobae’ and not ‘ obtusilobae’, therefore the homonymy does not exist.

This species was described from a single specimen according to Karsch (1880: 292); however, Karsch obtained three specimens presumably of the gall maker which he thought to be related to Neuroterus . Weld (1952: 317) says the Karsch gall deposited in Berlin is ‘an abrupt terminal stem swelling on Quercus stellata ’ and comments that ‘three type adults reared from it, which Karsch considered to be the makers of the gall and related to Neuroterus , are all guest flies of the genus Ceroptres’. We examined the 3♀ and the gall mentioned by both Karsch and Weld deposited in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and, as Weld stated, the specimens belong to Ceroptres and the gall is a woody, irregular and hard stem swelling.

The material of C. quercusobtusilobae examined shows some color differences with respect the original description ( C. quercusobtusilobae is mainly dark brown according to Karsch 1880: 292), which could be the result of a discoloration process.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Female faces of valid species of Ceroptres: a) C. kovalevi (type), discontinuous lines point out vertical carinae; b) C. lanigerae (type); c) C. minutissimi (type); d) C. montensis (type); e) C. petiolicola (type); f) C. pisum (type); g) C. quercusobtusilobae (type); h) C. rufiventris (type); i) C. snellingi (type).

FIGURE 8. a) Ceroptres pisum lateral and b) dorsal habitus, c) detail of female antenna and d) forewing (type); e) C. quercusobtusilobae lateral habitus and f) mesosoma in dorsolateral view (type); g) C. rufiventris lateral and h) dorsal habitus (type).