Ceroptres catesbaei Ashmead, 1885

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 : 14-21

Ceroptres catesbaei Ashmead, 1885

( Figures 3a ; 5a, b )

Ceroptres catesbaei Ashmead, 1885 . Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. 12: 301. Type material: USNM.

Type material (examined). LECTOTYPE (♀) with the following labels: ‘ Ceroptres catesbaei Ashm’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘ Type No. 2832 U.S. N.M.’ (red label) / ‘Collection Ashmead’ (white label) / ‘Jacksnville Fla’ (white label) / ‘USNMENT 01520384’ (white label, QR code) / ‘ Lectotype ♀ Ceroptres catesbaei Ashmead, 1885 , IL-V desig-2017’ (red label).

Diagnosis. This species can be separated from the rest of Ceroptres by the following combination of morphological traits: female antenna 13-segmented and subclavate (15-segmented in males according to the original description); vertical carinae on the lower face weak and incomplete, short; notauli incomplete and shallow; median groove very short and shallow in a form of short incision; mesoscutellum medially coriaceous, somewhat wrinkled laterally and posteriorly; scutellar foveae small, ovate, shallow, not well defined and separated by a wide septum; third metasomal tergum without punctures, but subsequent terga finely punctate; radial cell 2.9 times as long as wide; head and mesosoma black, metasoma brownish orange. Ceroptres catesbaei is morphologically similar to C. petiolicola ( Osten-Sacken, 1861) , from which it can be distinguished by its body coloration (uniformly colored, brownish to black, in C. petiolicola ), the length of the last flagellar segment in females (2.3 times as long as wide in C. catesbaei , 2.7 in C. petiolicola ) and the scutellar foveae (separated by a wide septum in C. catesbaei and by a narrow carina in C. petiolicola ), among others (see the descriptions of both species and the key to valid species of Ceroptres ).

Redescription. Female. Length. Body length 1.7 mm (n=1).

Color ( Figs 3a ; 5a, b ). Black and brownish orange. Head and mesosoma black; tegulae yellow. Antennae and legs, yellow. Metasoma brownish orange. Wings hyaline, veins pale.

Head. In anterior view ( Fig. 3a ) round-shaped, about 1.2 times as wide as high, genae not expanded behind compound eyes. Face with long, but not dense pubescence, lower face with short striae radiating from sides of clypeus, not reaching the toruli; medially without striae; vertical carinae weak and incomplete, short, running just a little from inner ventral margin of the toruli and delimiting a small depressed area. Clypeus distinct, just slightly projected over mandibles. Malar space almost 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 slightly below mid-height of compound eye; distance between torulus and compound eye about as long as diameter of the toruli; distance between the toruli clearly shorter than diameter of the toruli. Front finely coriaceous to alutaceous, shiny, with neither punctures nor frontal carinae. Head in dorsal view ( Fig. 5b ) is about 1.7 times as wide as long. Vertex finely coriaceous to alutaceous, shiny, without punctures. POL:OOL:LOL = 18:9:6 and diameter of lateral ocelli, 5.5. Occiput finely coriaceous, apparently smooth, without punctures.

Antennae ( Fig. 5b ). 13-segmented; subclavate, slightly broadened apically; pubescence dense and short. Scape plus pedicel about 1.8 times as long as F1; pedicel 1.2 times as long as wide; F1 about as long as F2, F2 and F3 subequal, the following segments progressively shorter. Last flagellar segment 2.3 times as long as wide and 2.3 times as long as F10.

Mesosoma. About 1.2 times as long as high in lateral view ( Fig. 5a ), including nucha, with moderately long, but not dense, pubescence. Ratio of length of pronotum medially/laterally: 0.31. Dorsal part of pronotal plate complete, but not well marked; with two distinct foveae. Lateral pronotum finely coriaceous to imbricated, without lateral carina. Mesoscutum ( Fig. 5b ) 1.2 times as wide as long, coriaceous; anterior grooves weakly impressed, extending 1/3 of the mesoscutal length. Notauli incomplete and shallow, visible at most in the posterior 1/3 of the mesoscutum. Parapsidal grooves inconspicuous. Median groove very short and shallow in a form of short incision. Mesoscutellum ( Fig. 5b ) rounded, about as long as wide, medially coriaceous, somewhat wrinkled laterally and posteriorly; circumscutellar carina absent; scutellar foveae small, ovate, shallow, not well defined, weakly sculptured and separated by a wide septum. Mesopleuron ( Fig. 5a ) smooth and shiny; little pubescent basally. Metapleural sulcus reaching about 4/5 parts of the mesopleural height. Propodeum pubescent and weakly sculptured; propodeal carinae straight and parallel. Nucha weakly sculptured dorsally and laterally.

Legs. Tarsal claws bidentate, with a basal lobe.

Wings ( Fig. 5a ). Forewings pubescent with moderately long marginal setae, longer than total body length. Radial cell closed, 2.9 times as long as wide; areolet not well defined, posterior vein pale, anterior and basal veins inconspicuous. Rs+M inconspicuous. Basal cell with sparsely spaced setae.

Metasoma ( Fig. 5a ). Slightly shorter than head plus mesosoma and slightly higher than long in lateral view. First metasomal tergum crescent-shaped and smooth. Second metasomal tergum short and free, about 0.4 times as long as the metasomal length and faintly pubescent anterolaterally. Third metasomal tergum without punctures and not dorsodistally incised; subsequent terga, finely punctate. Prominent part of the hypopygial spine 1.4 times as long as wide.

Male. Not examined (presumably lost).

Distribution. USA. Jacksonville, state of Florida ( Ashmead 1885; Burks 1979).

Biology. Reared from galls of Callirhytis quercuscatesbaei (Ashmead, 1881) ( Ashmead 1885) , which produces stem galls on Quercus laevis Walt. (= Q. catesbaei Michx. ) (Lobatae section) ( Ashmead 1885; Burks 1979).

Remarks. Ceroptres catesbaei was originally described from ‘many specimens’ ( Ashmead 1885: 301). We only located and examined 1♀ deposited in USNM from Ashmead’s collection. Based on Ashmead’s description, there should be more specimens belonging to the type series, including males.

Despite being very similar, morphological differences between C. catesbaei and C. petiolicola suggests that they are distinct species. Retaining them as distinct species is even more justified, given that we have examined only one specimen of each species (see the type material section of C. petiolicola ). In addition, they were collected from different gall structures ( C. petiolicola was obtained from a leaf petiole gall; see the biology section of C. petiolicola ) and from distant localities ( C. petiolicola was collected in Washington D.C. ( USA) and Québec ( Canada); see the distribution section of C. petiolicola ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Female faces of valid species of Ceroptres: a) C. catesbaei (type); b) C. cerri; c) C. clavicornis; d) C. confertus (type); e) C. cornigera (type); f) detail of the median ridge in the lower face of C. cornigera; g) head of C. cornigera in dorsal view; h) C. ensiger; i) C. frondosae (type); j) detail of the median ridge in the lower face of C. frondosae; k) head of C. frondosae in dorsal view.

FIGURE 5. a) Ceroptres catesbaei lateral and b) dorsal habitus (type); c) C. cerri lateral and d) dorsal habitus; e) C. clavicornis lateral and f) dorsal habitus; g) C. confertus lateral and h) dorsal habitus (type).