Amphibolips elatus Kinsey, 1937

Cuesta-Porta, Victor, Melika, George, Nicholls, James A., Stone, Graham N., Equihua-Martinez, Armando, Estrada-Venegas, Edith & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2023, Revision of the Amphibolips ‘ niger’ group with the description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Cynipini), Zootaxa 5360 (4), pp. 451-486 : 455-458

Amphibolips elatus Kinsey, 1937

Figs 2–9 , 69

Amphibolips (niger) elatus Kinsey, 1937: 438 , agamic female.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE. Asexual female “Pedernales, 2E, Chi., 7500’, Mex Ɵ, 10.23.31, 3♀, 3.20.32” (white label), “ Q. eduardi, Kinsey coll.” (white label). “ Amphibolips elatus ParaHolotype ” (red label), “ Amphibolips elatus ( Kinsey, 1937) ♀, det. JP-V, 2014” (white label), “ AMNH _ IZC 00322786 ” . PARATYPES: 10 females deposited in the AMNH . One Paratype with the same labels as the holotype deposited at the JP-V col ( UB) is a misidentification, see A. jubatus .

Additional material: Two asexual females, “MEX-094, México, Michoacán, Capácuaro, ex Q. crassipes , (08. xii.2011) 20.xii.2011, 2 asexual females, leg. A. Equihua & E. Estrada-Venegas ” deposited in the JP-V col ( UB) .

Diagnosis. Amphibolips elatus differs from all species from the complex by the 2r vein strongly projected into the radial cell. It belongs to the couplet of species characterized by the antenna with 14-15 flagellomeres, the lower face carinate-rugose; the mesoscutum black uniformly carinate; the median mesoscutal line absent or inconspicuous; the notauli absent, the mesoscutellar foveae transversal and divided by a short thin carina, and the central propodeal area rugose as in A. gumia . It differs from A. gumia by the lower face rugose, malar space without striae radiating from clypeus, with conspicuous piliferous points and the fore wing with the 2r vein strongly projected into the radial cell, while in A. gumia the lower face is strongly carinated, malar space with striae radiating from clypeus, without visible piliferous points, and the 2r vein is visible but short, not projecting into the radial cell.

Re-description.

Asexual female ( Figs 2–9 ). Head, mesosoma black; antenna of the same colour as the head; metasoma chestnut brown to black; mouthparts, legs dark brown to black, with coxae always darker; fore wings smoked with an infuscate area around basal margin of radial cell.

Head coarsely rugose, with sparse setae, denser on lower face and genae, rounded, transverse, 1.4× as broad as high and narrower than mesosoma in frontal view; 2.7× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena rugose, broadened behind eye in frontal view, narrower than transverse diameter of eye in lateral view. Malar space rugose without striae radiating from clypeus, malar sulcus absent; eye 2.2× as high as length of malar space. Inter margin of eyes parallel. POL 2.8× as long as OOL, OOL 0.7× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus and slightly longer than LOL, LOL 0.6× as long as diameter of lateral ocelli, all ocelli ovate, of same size. Transfacial distance subequal to height of eye; toruli located at mid-height eye; diameter of antennal torulus 3.0× as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.5× as long as diameter of torulus; lower face rugose, with dense white setae, without short delicate striae. Clypeus rounded, nearly as broad as high, rugose, with few setae; ventrally rounded, not emarginate and without median incision; anterior tentorial pit large, rounded, distinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons rugose, less pubescent than lower face, interocellar area rugose. Vertex rugose, occiput and postocciput alutaceous; occipital carina present, postgena smooth or alutaceous, with or without setae; posterior tentorial pit large, elongated, area below impressed; occipital foramen slightly shorter or as high as height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulci which strongly diverge toward occipital foramen, postgenal bridge anteriorly slightly broader than occipital foramen. Antenna with 13 flagellomeres, pedicel longer than broad; F1 1.2x as long as scape+pedicel and 1.5× as long as F2; F2 1.1× as long as F3; F3 1.1× as long as F4, subsequent flagellomeres gradually shorter, F13 1.6× longer than F12, placodeal sensilla visible F4–F13.

Mesosoma slightly longer than high, uniformly pubescent. Pronotum with irregular longitudinal striae from central to lateral part; propleuron sparsely pubescent and faintly rugose. Mesoscutum with strong irregular carinae radiating from the anterior parallel lines, slightly broader than long (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae). Notaulus inconspicuous, sometimes distinct in posterior 1/5; anterior parallel line distinct, elevated into a strong carina, and extending to 1/2 of mesoscutum length; parapsidal line impressed; median mesoscutal line absent; parascutal carina broad, reaching pronotum. Mesoscutellum ovate, slightly longer than broad; disk of mesoscutellum, coarsely rugose, barely overhanging metanotum, with sparse long setae; circumscutellar carina inconspicuous. Mesoscutellar foveae big, about as broad as high, with shiny delicately rugose bottom, divided by a short elevated central carina not extending more than half-height of foveae. Mesopleuron entirely pubescent, smooth with delicate piliferous points, mesopleural triangle, with a few strong irregular striae and long white setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas rugose, sparsely pubescent; axillula faintly rugose; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangular, narrowing posteriorly; metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron at 1/2, upper part of sulcus indistinct, sulcus separating a rugulose area, with sparse setae. Metascutellum glabrous, rugose, 2.0x as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, glabrous. Central propodeal area rugose, pubescent anteriorly, with or without delicate rugae in posterolateral part; propodeal carinae straight and divergent on posterior margin; in some cases, lateral carinae absent; lateral propodeal area densely punctured by piliferous points. Nucha with strong longitudinal sulci dorsally and laterally. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.

Fore wing longer than body, smoked, with distinct dense cilia on margin, veins dark brown, radial cell open, 3.7× as long as broad; Rs not reaching wing margin, R1 distinct, not reaching wing margin, 2r angulated and strongly projected into radial cell; areolet big, triangular, closed and distinct. Rs+M visible, reaching basalis slightly below the mid-height or lower.

Metasoma shorter than head+mesosoma, slightly longer than high in lateral view; second metasomal tergum extending to 3/4 of metasoma in dorsal view, completely covered in setae laterally, glabrous and smooth dorsally, sparsely micropunctured in lateral view on anterior 2/3 and with a dense band of micropunctures on posterior 1/3; subsequent terga, densely pubescent and micropunctured. Hypopygium with or without micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 4.3× as long as broad in ventral view, with a few white setae ventrally. Body length 5.9–6.1 mm (n=3).

Gall. ( Fig. 69 ) Subspherical unilocular woolly twig gall (20–60 mm in diameter including the pubescence). The dense pubescence is rusty brown to pale brown, and it is attached to the body of the gall, which is a strongly lignified barrel-shaped parenchyma. The larval chamber is oval, central to the gall and within the lignified parenchyma.

Host. Quercus eduardi Trel. and Q. crassipes Bonpl. , section Lobatae .

Biology. Only the females are known. The mature galls were collected in October ( Kinsey, 1937), and in December. The adults from Kinsey’s collection emerged by the end of March to April, ( Kinsey, 1937), and the UB material emerged in December, soon after its collection.

Distribution. Mexico: Chihuahua and Michoacán States.

Figures

FIGURES 2–7. Amphibolips elatus, asexual female. 2, head in frontal view. 3–5 mesosoma: 3, mesosoma in dorsal view; 4, head and mesosoma in lateral view; 5, mesoscutellum in dorsal view. 6, fore wing, radial cell, detail of the 2r vein pointed by a black arrow. 7, metasoma in lateral view.

FIGURES 8–9. Amphibolips elatus, asexual female. 8, antenna and head in lateral view. 9, fore wing.

FIGURES 69–74. Galls: 69, A. elatus; 70, A. gumia; 71, A. jubatus; 72, A. maturus; 73, A. nebris; 74, A. pistrix.