Amphibolips pistrix Kinsey 1937
Creators: name: Cuesta-Porta, Victor
name: Melika, George
name: Nicholls, James A.
name: Stone, Graham N.
name: Equihua-Martinez, Armando
name: Estrada-Venegas, Edith
name: Pujade-Villar, Juli
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae
Amphibolips
Amphibolips pistrix

description: Amphibolips pistrix Kinsey, 1937
Figs 52–60, 74
Amphibolips pistrix Kinsey, 1937: 444.
Type material examined. HOLOTYPE. Asexual female “La Mesa, Zac., 7000’, Mex Ɵ, 11.21.31, 14♀, 4.22.32” (white label), “ Q. eduardi, Kinsey coll.” (white label). “ Amphibolips pistrix ParaHolotype ” (red label), “ Amphibolips pistrix (Kinsey, 1937) ♀, det. JP-V, 2014” (white label), “ AMNH _ IZC 003227892 ”. PARATYPES: 24 females deposited in the AMNH; two paratype females deposited in JP-V col (UB): one paratype female with the same data as the holotype; one paratype female with the same data as the holotype except the emergence date “ 10♀, 4.15.32”.
Diagnosis. Amphibolips pistrix belongs to the couplet of species characterized by the mesoscutum rugose, and the central and lateral pronotal area smooth with tiny piliferous points, as occurs in A. nigra. It differs from A. nigra by all ocelli are subequal, the mesoscutellar disc is alutaceous, the propodeal carinae are absent, and the metapleural carina is inconspicuous, while in A. nigra the central ocellus is conspicuously smaller than lateral ocelli; the mesoscutellar disc is coarsely rugose, the propodeal carina is present, and the metapleural carina is distinct.
Re-description.
Asexual female (Figs 52–60). Head, mesosoma black with dark reddish-brown areas on mesopleuron; antenna dark reddish brown; metasoma reddish brown to black; mouthparts, legs dark reddish brown to black, with coxae always darker; fore wings smoked.
Head coarsely rugose, with sparse setae, denser on lower face and genae, rounded, transverse, 1.2× as broad as high and narrower than mesosoma in frontal view; 2.7× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena rugose, broadened behind eye in frontal view, subequal to transverse diameter of eye in lateral view. Malar space with striae radiating from clypeus, malar sulcus absent; eye 2.2× as high as length of malar space. Internal margin of eyes parallel. POL 2.5× as long as OOL, OOL 0.8× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus and subequal to LOL, LOL 0.8× diameter of lateral ocelli, all ocelli ovate, of same size. Transfacial distance subequal to height of eye; toruli located at mid-height eye; diameter of antennal torulus 4.6× as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and compound eye 1.8× as long as diameter of torulus; lower face rugose, with dense white setae. Clypeus rounded, nearly as broad as high, rugose, with few setae; ventrally rounded, not emarginate and without median incision; anterior tentorial pit large, rounded, distinct, epistomal sulcus distinct, clypeo-pleurostomal line well impressed. Frons rugose with smooth interspaces, less pubescent than lower face, interocellar area rugose. Vertex rugose, occiput and postocciput alutaceous; occipital carina present, postgena smooth or alutaceous, with or without setae; posterior tentorial pit large, elongated, area below impressed; occipital foramen slightly shorter or as high as height of postgenal bridge; hypostomal carina emarginate, continuing into postgenal sulci which strongly diverge toward occipital foramen, postgenal bridge anteriorly slightly broader than occipital foramen. Antenna shorter than head+mesosoma, with 14 flagellomeres, pedicel as long as broad; flagellomeres not broadening towards apical end; F1 subequal to scapus+pedicel and 1.4× as long as F2; F2 slightly longer than F3; subsequent flagellomeres gradually shorter; F14 1.7× as long as F13; placodeal sensilla on F4–F14.
Mesosoma slightly longer than high, uniformly pubescent. Pronotum rugose, with parallel rugae on lateral margin; propleuron sparsely pubescent and longitudinally carinated. Mesoscutum coarsely rugose, slightly broader than long (greatest width measured across mesoscutum level with base of tegulae). Notaulus inconspicuous, slightly impressed on posterior margin of mesoscutum; anterior parallel line obscured by the rugose sculpture, slightly elevated, and extending to 1/2 of mesoscutum length; parapsidal line impressed; median mesoscutal line impressed on posterior margin; parascutal carina broad, reaching pronotum. Mesoscutellum ovate, slightly longer than broad; disk of mesoscutellum, coarsely rugose, barely overhanging metanotum, with sparse long setae; circumscutellar carina inconspicuous. Mesoscutellar foveae big, about as broad as high, with shiny delicately rugose bottom, divided by a strong elevated ridge. Mesopleuron sparsely pubescent, punctured and smooth, striated on central part; speculum densely punctured; mesopleural triangle, with a few strong irregular striae and long white setae; dorsal and lateral axillar areas rugose, sparsely pubescent; axillula faintly rugose; subaxillular bar smooth, glabrous, triangular, narrowing posteriorly; metapleural sulcus absent, upper part of sulcus indistinct. Metascutellum glabrous, rugose, 2.0x as high as height of smooth, glabrous ventral impressed area; metanotal trough smooth, glabrous. Propodeal area uniformly smooth with piliferous points, propodeal carinae inconspicuous. Tarsal claws with basal lobe.
Fore wing longer than body, smoked, with darkened area on dorsal margin along radial and 3rd cubital cells, with distinct dense cilia on margin, veins dark brown, radial cell open, 2.8× as long as broad; Rs not reaching wing margin, R1 distinct, not reaching wing margin, 2r angulated, not projected into radial cell; areolet big, triangular, closed and distinct. Rs+M visible, reaching basalis slightly below the mid-height or lower.
Metasoma shorter than head+mesosoma, slightly longer than high in lateral view; second metasomal tergum extending to 3/4 of metasoma in dorsal view, completely covered in setae laterally, glabrous and smooth dorsally, sparsely micropunctured and faintly reticulate in lateral view on anterior 2/3 and with a dense band of micropunctures on posterior 1/3; subsequent terga, densely pubescent and micropunctured. Hypopygium with micropunctures, prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 5.2× as long as broad in ventral view, with a few white setae ventrally. Body length 5.7 mm (n=2).
Gall. (Fig. 74) Globular unilocular woolly leaf gall (30–52 mm in diameter). The dense pubescence is pale brown with orange tinges. The larval chamber is covered by a thick layer of strongly lignified parenchyma around it and its base is attached to the twig. The structure is cylindrical to peanut-shaped (around 20 mm in height and 10 mm wide) projected perpendicular to the twig, it is central to the gall. The larval chamber is oval, fused within the parenchyma.
Host. Q. eduardi Trel., section Lobatae.
Biology. Only the females are known. The mature gall was collected in November; adults emerged by the end of April (Kinsey, 1937).
Distribution. Mexico: Zacatecas State.
description: Published as part of Cuesta-Porta, Victor, Melika, George, Nicholls, James A., Stone, Graham N., Equihua-Martinez, Armando, Estrada-Venegas, Edith & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2023, Revision of the Amphibolips ' niger' group with the description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Cynipini), pp. 451-486 in Zootaxa 5360 (4) on pages 474-477, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5360.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10145404