Loxaulus hyalinus (sexgen)

Loxaulus laeta (agamic)

Loxaulus hyalinus Pujade-Villar & Melika n. sp.

Diagnosis: The galls of L. hyalinus n. sp. are always located on twigs and branches, while galls of L. illinoisensis are in a subterranean stem swelling always at ground level (Weld 1921).

Gall (Fig. 2b). Elongated, slightly enlarged swellings on twigs. The gall surface is rough, colored like the bark. Galls are on the tips of shoots from the previous year. Abrupt stem swelling, approximately 2.0 times the normal diameter of the shoot (8 x 40 mm). The larval chambers (1.5 x 1 mm) are dispersed in the interior tissue of the twig, oriented along the longitudinal axis. 

Host. Quercus dysophylla Benth. (section Lobatae) [likely mistaken]. Endemic to Mexico. 

Distribution. Mexico (Huasca, Hidalgo). 

Biology. Only the asexual form is known [mistaken[. Adults emerge in late winter and early spring, when new shoots start to grow. Parasitoids from Eulophidae, Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, and Ormyridae were reared from the galls. 

Etymology. Related to the color pattern of the forewing, which is hyaline, without smoky spots and/or stripes in the newly described species. 

Loxaulus laeta Pujade-Villar n. sp.

Diagnosis: Galls of L. laeta n. sp. are in distal twigs (subterranean in L. tenuis) and the larval cells are dispersed in the woody tissue (in nests of three or four to a dozen cells under the bark, in short depressions or pockets in woody tissue of L. tenuis).

Gall (Fig. 2c). Elongated slightly enlarged cryptic swellings (2 to 8 mm) of twigs, at the tips of the branches from previous year. The gall surface is rough, colored like the bark. The galled branches are hardly recognizable before the emergence of the adults. The larval chambers (1.5 x 1 mm) are dispersed in the interior of the woody tissue. 

Host. Quercus laeta Liebm. (section Quercus). Endemic to Mexico. 

Distribution. Mexico (Santa Fe, Delegación Cuajimalpa, D. F., Mexico City). 

Biology. Only asexual females are known. Adults emerge in late winter and early spring, when new shoots start to grow. 

Etymology. Related to the host oak name

First record of Loxaulus Mayr from Mexico, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini)