Andricus, Hartig, 1840

Shachar, Einat, Melika, George, Inbar, Moshe & Dorchin, Netta, 2018, The oak gall wasps of Israel (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini) - diversity, distribution and life history, Zootaxa 4521 (4), pp. 451-498 : 468-469

Andricus sp. nr. istvani

Host plants. Israel: Q. ithaburensis . Life history. Known only from the leaf galls of the sexual generation. These are large, conspicuous galls, 10–

45 mm long, amorphous, and multi-chambered ( Fig. 63 ). The underside of the galled leaf is rigid and swollen, and its upper side is soft and densely covered by short hairs. Young galls are green with white hairs, turning dark brown with golden hairs as they mature.

Phenology. Galls begin to develop in February and adults emerge in March.

Distribution. Known only from Israel: En Zivan, Yehudiyya, Hosha'aya, Alonim, Tiv’on.

Comments. The galls of this species are similar to those of A. istvani from Iran ( Tavakoli et al. 2008) but the adults reared from them are morphologically different. Sternlicht (1968b) attributed these galls to the sexual generation of Andricus miriami but preliminary molecular data (Shachar, unpublished) indicate that this is a distinct species, the formal description of which will be given elsewhere.

Figures

FIGURES 59–64. Galls on Quercus ithaburensis. 59. Chilaspis israeli, asexual generation; 60–61. Cerroneuroterus lanuginosus, asexual generation; 62. Cerroneuroterus gyulaigaraiae, asexual generation; 63. Andricus sp. nr. istvani, sexual generation; 64. Dryocosmus mikoi, sexual generation.