Amphibolips nassa

[Photos of this gall appear on page 12 of the pdf]

in A. nassa, the gall is more elongate, spindle-shaped, with hard, lignified parenchyma

Amphibolips nassa

Gall. — A rather large, globose but slightly spindle-shaped oak apple with a fine tip and base. Body of gall quite globose, with greatest diameter near middle of gall; up to 40. mm., averaging nearer 24. mm. in length, up to 28. mm., averaging nearer 20, mm. in diameter. Outer shell weathering dirty brown or darker in color, probably green, rosy, and straw when fresh; smooth and naked except for minute, raised, black specks and splotches which are fairly abundant over whole gall; internally very dense (hardly spongy), quite solid except for larval cell; completely separable, borne on twigs.

Host. — Quercus serrulata [castanea], the broader-leaved black oak, and Q. mexicana, the narrow- and entire-leaved black oak of the region.

Range. — Michoacan: Purepero, 5 W, SW)’ (Q. serrulata, types; also galls on Q. mexicana). Morelia, 14 E, 7000’ (galls, Q. serrulata). Possibly extending throughout a wide area in southwestern Mexico, including Michoacan and Jalisco.

Life History. — Unknown. This insect produces a gall indistinguishable from that of A. fusus described above. The single female which we have for this species was cut from old galls gathered at the end of December. Whether this insect is a remnant of a spring-emerging; bisexual generation — of a recently-emerged, fall-maturing, agamic generation — or whether there is any alternation of generations in this species is (as with A. fusus) a matter that cannot be determined on the basis of our present material.

Amphibolips nassa
Nipped-gall wasp

Hosts: Quercus emoryi, hypoleucoides

Galls of this wasp are as long as those of the preceding species, although much broader, and they have a prominent nipple at the apex but retain a slight spindle shape, narrowing toward the attachment point.

Amphibolips nassa Kinsey

Gall: A rather large, globose but slightly spindle-shaped oak apple with a fine tip and base. Body of gall quite globose. A photography of the gall was provided by Melika et al. (2011).

Distribution: Michoacán, Purépero on Quercus mexicana and Q. castanea (= Q. serrulata).

Comments Based on its forewing pattern and gall, A. nassa is very similar to the recently described Amphibolips zacatecaensis Melika & Pujade-Villar 2011. The galls of A. nassa and A. zacatecaensis are quite similar, but Melika et al. (2011) noted that the galls of A. nassa are more elongate and fusiform, with a hard lignified parenchyma, while the galls of A. zacatecaensis are globose, with a soft spongy parenchyma. After our analysis, we consider A. nassa to be more similar to the new species A. oaxacae described here, with the two species being differentiated by their coloration, relative emargination of the mesoscutellum and shape of the gall.

Amphibolips nassa

[Photos of this gall appear on page 43 of the pdf]

Amphibolips nassa closely resembles A. zacatecaensis but differs in . . . and galls (A. nassa are subglobose, but a bit fusiform with a tip and a base, with lignified spongious parenchyma while in A. zacatecaensis galls are fragile, globose with a tiny tip at apex, with soft spongious parenchyma. The galls are very similar to A. nevadensis and A. rulli n. sp. ; galls of these species cannot be differentiated, only by the uniformly brown surface of the galls of A. nassa (mottled in A. nevadensis and A. rulli n. sp. ), and the host plants are different; Amphibolips nassa in buds of Q. castanea, A. nevadensis galls on Q. calophylla and A. rulli n. sp. on Q. eduardi and Q. viminea. All these galls are subglobose, hard and with an apical tip, resulting from the longitudinal elongation of the gall.

Gall (Figs 15F–G). A rather large, subglobose, slightly fusiform, elongated bud oak apple, up to 48 mm in diameter, detachable, with a fine tip and base; with hard, lignified parenchyma. Larval chamber central or near the base of the gall, on buds. Host. According to the original description, Q. castanea.

Biology. Galls were collected in December; the only known adult was dissected out of the gall.

Distribution. Mexico: Michoacán state.

Remarks. Kinsey (1937) mentioned that similar galls were collected in the same place on Q. mexicana by Morelia from the same host plant as the holotype, but after knowing that different species are found in similar galls, we cannot assure this citation was correct