Neuroandricus pustulatus Pujade-Villar, Cuesta-Porta & Melika 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pujade-Villar, Juli
name: Savall-Roig, Gabriel
name: Equihua-Martínez, Armando
name: Estrada-Venegas, Edith G.
name: Barrera-Ruiz, Uriel M.
name: Cibrián-Tovar, David
name: Vera-Ortiz, Alexis
name: Silvia Romero-Rangel
name: Cuesta-Porta, Víctor
name: Cazorla-Vila, Júlia
name: Melika, George
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eurytomidae
Neuroandricus
Neuroandricus pustulatus

description: Neuroandricus pustulatus Pujade-Villar, Cuesta-Porta & Melika, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C838F006-84C6-4A67-B67B-1D8B52CFAEC5
(Figs 1–4)
Type material. HOLOTYPE asexual female deposited in UB (JP-V col.) with the following labels: “ MEX 490: Mazamitla (JAL), Q. obtusata, JP-V leg., (14.vi.2019) 14-30.vi.2019 ” (white label); HOLOTYPE ŏ of Neuroandricus pustulatus ŏ Pujade-Villar & Melika n. sp. (desig. JP-V 2024). PARATYPES (16ŏ): 8ŏ with the same labels as holotype; MEX 344: San Lorenzo (Puruandiro, MICH), 19°59′21″N 101°38′45″W, Q. obtusata, leg A. Equihua & E. Estrada, (9.vii.2016) 9-31.vii.2016: 5ŏ (1 ŏ UB, 1ŏ deposited in ColPos and 1ŏ deposited in PHDNRL); MEX 301: Fraccionamiento Bosques de Santa Fe (Cuajimalpa, CDMX), 19°21'09.78''N 99°15'55.02''W, 1585 msnm, Q. laeta, leg. JP-V, (28.vi.2016) vii.2016: 2ŏ (1ŏ UB); Fraccionamiento Bosques de Santa Fe (Cuajimalpa, CDMX), 19°21'09.78''N 99°15'55.02''W, 1585 msnm, in Q. laeta, (vii.2014) 10.vii.2014: 1ŏ (U. Barrera - Ruiz leg., 2829/17, deposited in UACh).
Etymology. From the Latin ‘pustula' which means blister or bubble, due to the shape of the galls.
Diagnosis. See the diagnosis for the genus.
Description. Asexual female.
Color (Fig. 1). Head and mesosoma black, metasoma chestnut brown; mandibles yellowish to light brown with dark teeth,maxillary and labial palpi light brown; antenna light brown with distal flagellomeres darker; legs faintly dark brown with coxae darker and last tarsus dark; fore wing veins light, costal and basal vein, veins of the areolet darker.
Head (Figs 2a–b) circular, coriaceous, with white setae on lower face, 1.1× as broad as high and as broad as mesosoma in frontal view, 2.1× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena coriaceous, slightly broadened behind eye, slightly shorter than transverse diameter of eye, sparsely pubescent; malar space with few, very inconspicuous, short striae radiating from clypeus; eye 2.5× as high as length of malar space. Eyes converging ventrally. POL 1.6× as long as OOL, OOL 2.5× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, as long as LOL, ocelli rounded, all three equal in size. Transfacial distance 1.1× as long as height of eye and 1.7× as long as height of lower face (distance between antennal rim and ventral margin of clypeus); diameter of antennal torulus 1.7× as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.3× as long as diameter of torulus. Lower face coriaceous, sparsely pubescent, without striae, elevated median area glabrous, coriaceous, without striae. Clypeus sub-rectangular, flat, broader than high, without or with very few, short and inconspicuous radiating striae, ventrally slightly curved, not emarginate and not incised medially; anterior tentorial pit, epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line distinct. Frons, interocellar area and vertex reticulate, glabrous; occiput, postgena, postocciput coriaceous, pubescent. Postocciput coriaceous, around occipital foramen, remainder of area alutaceous to smooth, glabrous; posterior tentorial pit oval, slightly elongate; hypostomal carina emarginate, present at the base of postgenal sulci, gular sulci absent; occipital foramen as high as height of postgenal bridge.
Antenna (Fig. 2c–d) shorter than body, with 12 flagellomeres (sometimes suture between F11 and F12 incomplete); pedicel 1.5× as long as broad, F1 0.8× as long as length of scape+pedicel and 1.3–1.4× as long as F2, F3 0.8× as long as F2, F3 equal to F4, F5 slightly longer than F6, subsequent flagellomeres slightly shortened in length; placodeal sensilla inconspicuous and scarce, present on F3–F12, scarce on F3–F9 and almost absent in F3–F6.
Mesosoma (Figs 2f, 3a–b) 1.2× as long as high in lateral view. Pronotum laterally coriaceous with transverse parallel striae along posterior edge, extending to 1/3 of pronotum width, with sparse white setae (denser superiorly), emarginate along lateral and dorsal edges. Propleuron alutaceous with sparse setae and some weak carinae. Mesoscutum coriaceous, with few white setae along notaulus, 1.3× as broad as long (width measured across base of tegulae). Notaulus complete with smooth bottom; median mesoscutal line absent; anterior parallel line and parapsidal line inconspicuous; parascutal carina complete, smooth, glabrous, extends to notauli. Transscutal articulation deep, distinct. Mesoscutellum as long as broad, nearly rounded; shorter than mesoscutum, coriaceous rugose with very weak rugae in central part of disc, overhanging metanotum; scutellar foveae transverse, with alutaceous bottom, divided by a weak central carina. Mesopleuron coriaceous-reticulate with transverse interrupted striae, rugose, with sparse white setae; speculum coriaceous; mesopleural triangle coriaceous, with white setae. Metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron at half of its height, upper part of sulcus inconspicuous; dorsal axillar area alutaceous, with setae, lateral axillar area alutaceous, glabrous, axillar carina distinct; subaxillular bar triangular, smooth, glabrous; metanotal trough smooth and shining, with sparse short setae. Metascutellum rectangular, coriaceous-rugose, glabrous; ventral impressed area short, present. Lateral propodeal carinae distinct, thin, subparallel, central propodeal area smooth, glabrous; lateral propodeal area weak coriaceous, with white setae.
Fore wing (Fig. 1b) 1.2× as long as body, hyaline, margin ciliate; radial cell open, 4.5× as long as broad, R1 reaching wing margin, Rs nearly reaching wing margin; areolet present, big; Rs+M visible to 2/3 of its length, its projection reaching basal vein below 1/2 of its height.
Legs. Tarsal claws toothed, with a basal lobe (Fig. 2e).
Metasoma (Fig. 3a) shorter than head+mesosoma, as long as high in lateral view, second metasomal tergum smooth, with few scattered white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; subsequent terga and hypopygium smooth without setae; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium around 2.5× as long as broad in ventral view, often partially hidden by the last tergites of the metasoma, with long white setae ventrally forming a tuft with a lance shaped projection (Figs 3 c-d) reaching almost 1/4 of the total length of the ventral spine. Body length 1.6–1.8 mm (n = 7).
Gall (Fig. 4) on the underside of the leaves, attached to the secondary veins. Pustule-like, oval in outline (rarely almost circular), 2.8–3.1 by 2.5–2.7 mm (n = 20) and 1.5–1.7 mm in height. The ventral surface is flat. Wall of about 0.5 mm on the sides and 0.3 mm on the dorsal and ventral part, hard, yellowish in color, leathery surface with bristly hairs. All internal space corresponds to the larval chamber, 2.0 by 1.0 mm.
Host plant. Collected on Q. laeta Liebm. and Q. obtusata Bonpl. (section Quercus, subsection Leucomexicanae).
Distribution. Mexico (Ciudad de Mexico, Michoacán and Jalisco states).
Biology. Only the asexual generation is known. The galls appear in May-June; adults completely developed in June. Adults emerge from the end of June until July; some specimens remain in galls until next year. Galls remain on leaves for several weeks after the adults emerged.
description: Published as part of Pujade-Villar, Juli, Savall-Roig, Gabriel, Equihua-Martínez, Armando, Estrada-Venegas, Edith G., Barrera-Ruiz, Uriel M., Cibrián-Tovar, David, Vera-Ortiz, Alexis, Silvia Romero-Rangel, Cuesta-Porta, Víctor, Cazorla-Vila, Júlia & Melika, George, 2024, Description of Neuroandricus a new genus of gall wasp (Hym.: Cynipidae) and a new species of associated Sycophila (Hym.: Eurytomidae), pp. 177-193 in Zootaxa 5538 (2) on pages 181-185, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5538.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/14611649