Cynips (plumbea) texcocana, new species
agamic form

GALL.-Large, spherical, rarely flattened on a small base, more often drawn to a short point; dull, slightly shriveling, with a conspicuous and often heavy scurf (stellate pubescence) which is so persistent that even old galls are conspicuously blue gray; denuded surface of gall light tan to (more often) dark purplish brown; up to 10.0 mm., averaging near 7.5 mm. Figure 106.

HOSTS.—Quercus texcocana [deserticola], Q. conglomerata [rugosa], Q. rhodophlebia [rugosa], Q. repanda. Apparently one species on all oaks, both trees and alpine dwarfs, in the region.

RANGE.-Mexico: Mexico City, 12 W, 8500' (Q. tercocama, types; galls on Q. conglomerata, Q. repanda). Mexico City, 17 S, 8200' (Q. tear cocama, Q. conglomerata). Mexico City, 20 S, 9200-9400' (Q. rhodophlebia, Q. repanda). Mexico City, 15 E, 7000' (Q. tercocana). Apparently confined to the mountains bounding the Valley of Mexico; range limited by the divides which rise to elevations above those at which white oaks occur. Figure 102

LIFE HISTORY..—Adults: March 15, 20, 23, 29, 30. Emergence thus late in March.

On the inside of the remarkable mountain rim which bounds the Valley of Mexico, this is the only species of the plumbea. complex. Over the divide, to the west and southwest, on the outside of that same mountain rim, this species is replaced by C. fuscipennis, with still other species occurring on other groups of oaks in Central (and more southern ?) Mexico.

Texcocana is a very striking insect, in no likelihood of being confused with the plumbea-glabrescens group of species of more northern Mexico and our own Southwest. The galls of texcocana and fuscipennis are very similar, but the ground color of the texcocana gall is more often dark purplish brown, that of fuscipennis light tan.

- Alfred Kinsey: (1936) Origin of higher categories in Cynips^©