Andricus niger Tavares, 1902

Pujade-Villar, Juli, Villemant, Claire & Andreï-Ruiz, Marie-Cécile, 2000, Cynipidae associated with Quercus collected in Corsica with the description of a new Plagiotrochus species (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea), Zoosystema 22 (4), pp. 835-846 : 838

Andricus niger Tavares, 1902

Andricus niger Tavares, 1902 in Tavares 1916: 84- 86 . — Nieves-Aldrey 1982: 70; 1989: 148 [Mistake in the description’s year].

Andricus luteicornis Kieffer, 1900 .

var. niger Kieffer, 1901: 453 [Indisponible name].

Andricus luteicornis var. niger Tavares, 1902: 10-11 . — Kieffer 1902: 559. — Tavares 1905: 56 [according Tavares 1916: 86].

Andricus luteicornis niger Kieffer, 1901 . — Dalla Torre & Kieffer 1910: 516 [Mistake in the author’s name]. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Vallée du Fango. Yellow pan trap (R3/DN/C 3), 14-21.V.1993, 1 ♀ (UB).

Corli Vignola. Q. suber floral galls 26.V.1995 (No. 4), 1 ♀ (UB).

REMARKS

This species is recorded from Spain and Portugal (Tavares 1916; Nieves-Aldrey 1982, 1989).

The correct name, the author and the year’s description of this species have been unsettled until now. Andricus luteicornis var niger was originally described on the basis of their galls which are indistinguishable from those of Andricus luteicornis (Kieffer 1901: 453) . This name was probably given according to Tavares’ personal communication because Kieffer named this new variety as “ Andricus luteicornis var niger Tav ”. According to the Nomenclatural Code: 1) the author of this variety name is Kieffer because in his work no mention of Tavares was indicated; 2) this name is not valid because it is impossible to distinguish this variety from the typical form. Tavares (1902) published the last part of the study “As Zoocecidias Portuguesas” that had not been published in 1900 (according to their notes) and gave a short description of the adults of the new variety named Andricus luteicornis var niger . As the name “ niger ” is not preoccuped by Kieffer (1901), the Tavares’ “ niger ” name is correct. This variety was transfered to subspecies by Dalla Torre & Kieffer (1910) but the author’s name was incorrect. Posteriorly, Tavares (1916) considered that this variety was a valid species, redescribed it, and in different Nieves-Aldrey’s papers the year of description of this species is incorrect probably because Tavares (1916) considered erroneously that all previous denominations were synonymic names of A. niger Tavares. Andricus niger Tavares is a species closely related to A. luteicornis Kieffer, 1899 and A. burgundus Giraud, 1859 . According to Tavares (1916), it is impossible to differentiate the galls of Andricus niger from those of Andricus luteicornis . Both are smooth, in contrast to those of A. burgundus which present a small longitudinal carina. These galls develop on Q. suber axillary buds (rarely in floral buds), each bud bearing one to eight yellow galls (usually two for the “ niger ” form).

The sexual adults of Andricus niger Tavares are morphologically similar to A. burgundus and A. luteicornis , but the black coloration of the head and thorax is typical of this species (Kieffer 1902; Tavares 1916). This last author accurately characterised A. niger . The agamic form of this species is unknown.