Neuroterus niger (sexgen)

Family: Cynipidae | Genus: Neuroterus
Detachable: integral
Color: green, tan
Texture: hairy, hairless
Abundance:
Shape:
Season: Spring
Alignment: integral
Walls:
Location: petiole, leaf midrib, flower
Form:
Cells:
Possible Range:i
Common Name(s):
Synonymy:
Pending...
Slide 1 of 3
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)
image of Neuroterus niger (sexgen)

Pairing of sexual and asexual generations of Nearctic oak gallwasps, with new synonyms and new species names (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini)

Neuroterus niger Gillette, 1888

Neuroterus vernus Gillette, 1889, sexual generation, syn. nov.

Material examined. Five asexual females labelled as “CANADA: Alberta, Edmonton, Grand Trunk Pool, SC30, 2002.04.12. S. Digweed, Neuroterus niger Gillette females of the asexual generation, det. S. Digweed 2005”. Sexual generation: 5 females labelled as “CANADA, Alberta, Edmonton. Reared 18.iv.2005, ex Q. macrocarpa. N. niger (?) gall, Grand Trunk, coll.22.ix.04. S. Digweed”; 5 males labelled as “CANADA, Alberta, Edmonton. Reared 3-13.x.2005, ex Q. macrocarpa. N. niger (?) gall, Grand Trunk, coll.22.ix.04. S. Digweed”.

Gall. The sexual generation galls (Fig. 182), first recorded as N. vernus, are cells hidden within new shoots, on the young leaf petioles and midribs and on the catkins of Q. macrocarpa; these plant organs are sometimes distorted as a result (Digweed 2010).

Biology. Galls of the sexual generation are on Q. alba, Q. bicolor and Q. macrocarpa (Gillette 1890, Burks 1979, Digweed 2010). We observed that clusters of galls (e.g., on one catkin) often produced adults of only one gender. Galls were visible in Edmonton in May, with adults emerging in late May or early June. Sexual generation females were observed ovipositing mostly on the undersides of leaves and often on leaves that were on long shoots and/or that were not yet fully mature.

Distribution. In the USA the asexual generation has been recorded from Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa (Burks 1979), Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio (Beutenmueller 1910); Arizona, Texas (Kinsey 1923), and Alberta and Manitoba in Canada. The sexual generation has been recorded from Illinois (Weld 1926), Iowa (Burks 1979), and TX (Kinsey 1923) in the USA and Alberta in Canada.

- James Nicholls, George Melika, Scott Digweed, Graham Stone: (2022) Pairing of sexual and asexual generations of Nearctic oak gallwasps, with new synonyms and new species names (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini)©


Further Information:
Pending...

See Also:
iNaturalist logo
BugGuide logo
Google Scholar logo
Biodiversity Heritage Library logo