Kinseyella quercusobtusata (agamic)

Kinseyella lapiei (agamic)

Kinseyella quercusobtusata, new species
Asexual female

[Photos of the gall appear on page 10 of the pdf]

Gall (Fig. 4). A leaf gall, almost always on the underside, usually attached to the midrib, more rarely on the lateral veins or leaf petiole. Usually one gall per leaf, sometimes two-three. Unilocular, approximately spherical, 20–40 mm in diameter, yellowish and tinged with pink and red when mature, the surface with dense rusty-brown felt-like pubescence. The gall is very fragile, with a very thin external wall. The hard larval chamber is 3–4 mm in diameter, with 2–3 mm thick hard wall, in rusty dense hairs and located in the centre of the gall, supported by numerous radiating brown fibres.

Biology. Only the asexual generation of this species is known, inducing leaf galls on Q. obtusata (Section Quercus ‘sensu stricto’). The gall starts to develop in summer and mature in autumn; adults start to emerge in late autumn and probably prolong the winter. This is the first record of a cynipid gallwasp on this endemic Mexican oak species, characteristics of which are given in Romero-Rangel et al. (2002), Flores-Maya et al. (2006) and Rodriguez-Rivera & Romero-Rangel (2007).

Distribution. Adults currently known only from Mexico: Estado de México. Galls were collected in the following counties: Tepotzotlan, Villa del Carbón, Chapa de Mota y Villa Nicolás Romero

Kinseyella lapiei (Kieffer), comb. nova

Disholcaspis lapiei Kieffer, 1911: 346–347 (female, gall); Melika & Abrahamson, 2002.
Holcaspis weldi Beutenmueller, 1911: 86–87 (female, gall).
Adleria lapiei: Weld (1952); Burnett (1977).

Gall. The galls are similar to K. quercusobtusata, sometimes larger, reaching 55 mm in diameter.

Biology. Only the asexual generation of this species is known, inducing twig and leaf galls on Q. reticulata (Section Quercus ‘sensu stricto’). The gall starts to develop in summer (Kieffer 1911) and mature in autumn; adults start to emerge in October (Beutenmueller 1911).

Distribution. Currently known only from Mexico. Galls were collected from El Parque at 2300m a.s.l., near Cuernavaca (Estado  de Morelos) (Kieffer 1911) and Ajusco (Distrito Federal) according to Beutenmueller’s labels

Comments. Originally Kinseyella lapiei was described by Kieffer (1911) as Disholcaspis lapiei. Kinsey (1937a) suggested that D. lapiei Kieffer probably a synonym of D. weldi (Beutenmueller) (= Holcaspis weldi Beutenmueller, not Cynips weldi Beutenmueller). However, Kinsey (1937a) suggestion for the synonymization of D. lapiei to D. weldi was erroneous from the point of view of ICZN, and what was correctly mentioned by Weld (1952). Chronologically, D. lapiei was described before H. weldi, which is a junior synonym, and thus Weld (1952) was right when synonymized H. weldi to D. lapiei. Later, Weld (1952) placed it in Adleria Rohwer & Fagan. Burnett (1977) provisionally treated lapiei also as Adleria; Melika & Abrahamson (2002) re-established the Disholcaspis combination. On the other hand, the genus Holcaspis Mayr, where H. weldi has been described, was preoccupied by Chadour 186- for Coleoptera and, thus Dalla Torre & Kieffer (1910) established Disholcaspis as new genus name for Holcaspis sensu Mayr. 

A new genus of oak gallwasps, Kinseyella Pujade-Villar & Melika, with a description of a new species from Mexico (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini)