Striatoandricus maesi (agamic)

Andricus maesi n. sp.

Gall (Fig. 4a-d). Attached to the branches of the oak. It appears as a mass of white wool pinkish (sometimes off-white, never yellow or brown), with brittle hair without being fragile. The appearance is oval. The size ranges from 2-2.5 cm in diameter, and can reach 4 cm in length. The pubescence covers the central nucleus, forming a layer 1 cm thick. The polythalamous core forms a rosette of individual galls, dense and hard, inserted directly into the branch. Each gall presents a triangular aspect in longitudinal section; the basal part is narrower and is where it is attached to the branch; the apex is wider, the pubescent tuft protrudes and that's where the adult comes out. The larval chamber (2x1 mm) is surrounded by a thick wall that presents a pubescence that is long in the apical area and much shorter on the sides.

Host. Q. segoviensis Liebm. (subgen. Quercus, section Quercus), called 'acorn oak', is a white oak distributed in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico (Chiapas), between 650 and 2000 m altitude. 

DISTRIBUTION. Collected only in Tisey hill (Nicaragua).

Andricus maesi n. sp., primera especie de cinípido gallícola para Nicaragua (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae)