Saphonecrus jejuensis Kang & Jung & Pujade-Villar & Lobato-Vila 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kang, Minjoon
name: Jung, Sunghoon
name: Pujade-Villar, Juli
name: Lobato-Vila, Irene
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae
Saphonecrus
Saphonecrus jejuensis

description: Saphonecrus jejuensis Kang & Lobato-Vila, sp. nov.
(Figure 1)
Type material. HOLOTYPE ♀ with the following collection data: ‘401-3, Gamsan-ri, Andeok-myeon, Seogwiposi, Jeju-do, South Korea’ (white label) / ‘Ex. cryptic stem galls on Q. glauca (Cyclobalanopsis section), 12.V.2020 (collected), 19.V.2020 (emerged), M.J Kang, S.B Choi & H.M Byun leg.’ (white label) / ‘Holotype ♀ Saphonecrus jejuensis Kang & Lobato-Vila, desig. Kang 2021’ (red label), (CNU). PARATYPES (11♀♀) with the same data as the holotype: 9♀♀ deposited in CNU and 2♀♀ in UB (2♀♀ dissected for imaging purposes dissected parts deposited in CNU).
Etymology. The new species is named after Jeju, the South Korean island from where the galls, which yielded the new species, were collected. Noun in apposition.
Diagnosis. Saphonecrus jejuensis Kang & Lobato-Vila, sp. nov. is morphologically close to Saphonecrus nantoui Tang, Schwéger & Melika, 2015 which was reared also from galls on Q. glauca from Taiwan and China, but differs from this species by having the radial cell almost 3.0x as long as wide (2.5x in S. nantoui); the head in frontal view rounded (slightly quadrate in S. nantoui); the lower face with long and dense white setae (short and sparse in S. nantoui); OOL 1.4x as long as diameter of lateral ocellus (1.7x in S. nantoui); F11 2.3x as long as F10 (1.9x in S. nantoui); the median mesoscutal line present (absent in S. nantoui); and the metasomal syntergite with a small posterodorsal patch of micropunctures (without micropunctures in S. nantoui). Furthermore, the new species was reared from cryptic stem galls, whereas S. nantoui is known from thickened leaf petiole galls.
Description. FEMALE (Fig. 1). Length. 2.2–2.3 mm (n = 11).
Color (Fig. 1A). Head and mesosoma black; antennae, maxillary and labial palps, and legs, yellow; tip of antennae dark brown; mandibles light brown with dark brown tips; wings hyaline, veins pale yellow; nucha dark brown to black; metasoma uniformly dark chestnut, with lighter hypopygium.
Head. Mainly coriaceous, with frons, vertex and genae covered with sparse short white setae; setae dense and long on lower face immediately under toruli (Fig. 1B). Head rounded in frontal view (Fig. 1B), almost 1.3x as broad as high, genae very slightly broadened behind compound eyes; malar space almost 0.6x as long as height of compound eye; malar sulcus absent; lower face with striae radiating from both sides of clypeus and reaching eyes and toruli; striae not extending into the space between eyes and toruli; clypeus small, slightly impressed, ventrally straight, not emarginate; anterior tentorial pits small; epistomal and clypeo-pleurostomal sulci indistinct; transfacial distance as long as height of eye; toruli situated slightly under mid-height of compound eyes; distance between eye and torulus slightly shorter than diameter of torulus; diameter of torulus slightly longer than distance between toruli; frons coriaceous, with small piliferous punctures; lateral frontal carinae absent. Head in dorsal view (Fig. 1E) slightly broader than mesosoma, nearly 2.3x as broad as long; vertex coriaceous, with small piliferous punctures; POL 1.7x as long as OOL and 1.9x as long as LOL; OOL 1.4x as long as length of lateral ocellus. Head in posterior view (Fig. 1C) with sparse setae on occiput, postgena on the limit with gena, and along the gula, the rest of its surface being glabrous, smooth and shiny; occiput coriaceous.
Antennae (Fig. 1D). 13-segmented (4: 3: 5: 4: 4.5: 4.5: 4: 4: 4: 3.5: 3.5: 3: 6); filiform, with dense and short pubescence; segments gradually shortened and very slightly broadened till the apex. Pedicel about 2.0x as long as broad; F1 1.8x as long as pedicel; F1 1.3x as long as F2, F2 0.8x as long as F3, last flagellomere about 3.8x as long as wide and 2.3x as long as F10; placodeal sensilla visible on flagellar segments F3–F11.
Mesosoma. About 1.3x as long as high in lateral view including nucha, with short and not dense pubescence (Fig. 1G). Side of pronotum sharply angled in dorsal view; pronotum dull rugose, laterally with strong, discontinuous carinae and the area between carinae alutaceous; lateral pronotal carina present, strong and complete (Fig. 1F). Propleuron alutaceous and shiny, with sparse setae and some fine striae (Fig. 1J). Mesoscutum about 1.2x as wide as long, with discontinuous carinae and short white setae; notauli complete, reaching anterior margin of mesoscutum, with smooth bottom; anterior parallel and parapsidal lines shallow to indistinct, anterior parallel lines extending to 1/3–1/4 of the mesoscutal length; median mesoscutal line strongly impressed about 1/4 of the mesoscutal length; parascutal carina present along tegula; dorsoaxillar area coriaceous; mesoscutellum about as long as broad, dull rugose; scutellar foveae ovate, obliquely posterior-orientated to disk of mesoscutellum, bottom rugose (Fig. 1F). Mesopleuron with parallel longitudinal striae, interspaces smooth; metapleural sulcus reaching posterior margin of mesopectus in upper 1/5 of its height (Fig. 1G). Propodeum weakly rugose with dense, long, white setae; lateral propodeal carinae straight, parallel; nucha weakly sulcate dorsally and laterally (Fig. 1I).
Fore wings (Fig. 1H). Longer than body length, with long and dense marginal setae; fore wing surface covered with short and dense setae; basal cell with sparsely spaced setae. Radial cell open, about 2.9x as long as broad; R1 and Rs nearly reaching the wing margin and slightly curved; areolet and Rs+M indistinct.
Legs. With short white setae, posterior surface of hind coxa with dense setae. Tarsal claws simple, without a basal lobe (Fig. 1K).
Metasoma. Slightly longer than head plus mesosoma and 1.3x as long as high in lateral view (Fig. 1A). First metasomal tergite with longitudinal parallel striae both dorsally and laterally. Syntergite smooth, glabrous, only with a row of anterolateral setae; posterodorsally strongly incised, with a small posterodorsal patch of distinct micropunctures; subsequent tergites conspicuously micropunctate, more delicate on the hypopygium (Fig. 1L); prominent part of the ventral spine of the hypopygium as long as broad in ventral view.
MALE. Unknown.
Distribution. Jeju Island (South Korea).
Biology. Adults emerged in early to mid-May from undetermined cryptic stem galls on Q.glauca (Cyclobalanopsis section) (Fig. 1M). Unlike other galls, such as the asexual generation of Plagiotrochus glaucus Tang & Melika, 2011 this undetermined stem gall is not swollen. This makes it difficult to distinguish an attacked stem from a non-attacked one before the emergence of the adults, when the emergence holes are formed. The gall inducer was damaged and impossible to identify.
description: Published as part of Kang, Minjoon, Jung, Sunghoon, Pujade-Villar, Juli & Lobato-Vila, Irene, 2022, A new species of the inquilinous gall wasp genus Saphonecrus Dalla-Torre & Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini) from South Korea, Saphonecrus jejuensis Kang & Lobato-Vila, sp. nov., pp. 285-292 in Zootaxa 5195 (3) on pages 286-289, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5195.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/7191027