Amphibolips zacatecaensis Melika & Pujade-Villar 2011

Pascual, E., Maldonado-Lopez, Y., Medianero, E. & Oyama, K., 2012, Revision of the Amphibolips species of Mexico excluding the “ niger complex ” Kinsey (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), with description of seven new species, Zootaxa 3545, pp. 1-40 : 8-9

Amphibolips zacatecaensis Melika & Pujade-Villar 2011

Amphibolips zacatacaensis Melika & Pujade-Villar. Zootaxa , 3105: 48.

Material studied. Two females. Zacatecas, Tlaltenango , 2400 m. ex gall Quercus sp. aff conzatii (06/08/2005), adults emerged 09/2005, E. Pascual leg.

Diagnosis and comments. A. zacatecaensis has been recently described from a single female reared from galls collected on Q. eduardi in Zacatecas. The species is characterised by a combination of characters, including the presence of a dark heavily infuscated band along the anterior area of the forewing, which is not interrupted in the first cubital cell, and the mesoscutellum only slightly emarginated posteriorly. The authors outlined the resemblance of this species with the species A. fusus and A. nassa described by Kinsey. With regard to the resemblance to A. fusus , they indicated that A. zacatacaensis and A. fusus , both reared from Q. eduardi , exhibit a similar pattern of forewing pigmentation. However, that affirmation is erroneous, as we demonstrated by examination of the holotype of A. fusus . A. fusus presents a quite distinct forewing colour pattern, with a colourless cross band, as is found in A. dampfi , A. durangensis and A. castroviejoi , which is not present in A. nassa and A. zacatecaensis . Furthermore, that A. fusus and A. nassa do not closely resemble each other was previously correctly outlined by Kinsey (1937). With regard to the differences from A. nassa , in the cited paper, it is affirmed that A. zacatecaensis differs from A. nassa in its forewing colour pattern, but that affirmation is not correct according the original description and the figure (the types of A. nassa could not be found when we requested Kinsey types from the AMNH for direct comparison). According to the original description, the forewing is “everywhere smoky-yellow, with a heavy brown cloud on anterior margin covering most of basal, first cubital, and radial cell and anterior portion of third cubital cell; without the clear break in this band found in some other Mexican species of Amphibolips ” (it is clear that Kinsey is referring to A. dampfi and A. fusus , as stated in another paragraph on pp. 434). The above description is coincident with the forewing pattern of A. zacatecaensis , except that the forewing drawing of A. nassa shows the costal cell as infuscate as the basal cell, differing from A. zacatecaensis . In conclusion, it is true that A. zacatecaensis closely resembles A. nassa (not also A. fusus ), but it could not be differentiated based on the forewing pattern from A. nassa . Because the two species share morphologically similar galls, the only difference between them may be the inner consistency of the gall, which presents a soft, spongious parenchyma, whereas it is hard and lignified in A. nassa (Melika pers. comm.). The forewing colour pattern and the moderately emarginated mesoscutellum assigns the materials we studied to A. zacatacaensis / A. nassa . However, our specimens differ in that the dark smoky band is less heavily infuscate, especially in the first cubital cell, and that veins Sc+R, R1 and Rs are distinct and more visible than in the nominal typical form.

Distribution: Zacatecas state

Gall. Large, globose to slightly spindle shaped, with a nipple at the top ( Fig. 18E). The gall is thin walled, very lightweight, internally showing a soft spongious consistency. Internally, the gall exhibits a single hard-walled central larval cell ( Melika et al. 2011).

Host. Quercus eduardi

Life History. Unknown.