Feron pattersonae (Fullaway, 1911), comb. nov.

Gall. Sexual gall (Fig. 283) is a small, elongate capsule, 5–7 mm long, 1.0–1.5 mm wide, attached by a slender pedicel to the edge of the leaf, unilocular. The gall is sharp-tipped, broadest near the tip, continuing into a slender, thread-like stem, 5–12 mm long, evidently a continuation of a leaf vein. The gall is thin-walled, entirely hollow.

Biology. Andricus pattersonae and Liodora dumosae were erroneously paired by Evans (1972; restated by Dailey & Menke 1980). Evans (1972) appears to have mis-identified the asexual gall he found as A. pattersonae; his Figure 15 shows a gall much more similar to the new species F. rucklei described herein. Molecular data also refute Evans’ pairing, instead establishing the correct matching of A. pattersonae with A. pedicellatus, with the associated synonymisation herein. Four individuals (two asexual females [=A. pattersonae], two sexual females [=A. pedicellatus]) were sequenced for cytb and ITS2. Cytb sequences were on average 1.14% divergent (range 0.23– 1.90%; GenBank accessions OQ446204–OQ446206) and ITS2 sequences were on average 0.25% divergent (range 0–0.42%, including identical alleles in one asexual and one sexual individual; GenBank accessions OQ448243–OQ448246).

Asexual galls have been recorded from leaves on section Quercus, subsection Dumosae oaks: Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. garryana, and Q. lobata (Burks 1979), the gall matures by late autumn, adults emerge in late winter. Sexual galls occur on leaves of Q. douglasii (Burks 1979) and mature in April; adults emerge soon after.

Distribution. USA: California (Burks 1979).

- Victor Cuesta-Porta, George Melika, James, A. Nicholls, Graham N. Stone, Juli Pujade-Villar: (2023) Re-establishment of the Nearctic oak cynipid gall wasp genus Feron Kinsey, 1937 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), including the description of six new species^©