Belonocnema
Creators: name: Zhang, Y. Miles
name: Egan, Scott P.
name: Driscoe, Amanda L.
name: Ott, James R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae
Belonocnema

description: GENUS BELONOCNEMA (MAYR, 1881)
Type species: Belonocnema treatae (Mayr, 1881).
Diagnosis: Belonocnema can be distinguished from all other Cynipini genera by the combination of the curved spine on the anterior side of the fore tibia (Fig. 3A), and the strongly angulate Rs with narrow black stripes, which form a short radial cell in the fore wing (Fig. 4A; Melika & Abrahamson, 2002). The genus is restricted to live oaks (Quercus section Quercus series Virentes). Sexual-generation males have 15 antennal segments with F1 excavated, while the sexual females and asexual females have 14 and 13 antennal segments, respectively. The sexual females are larger than asexual-generation conspecifics (Hood & Ott, 2017: fig. 2A) based on measurement of the length of the right tibia length, often used as a proxy for body size, (e.g., the average tibial length of sexual females of B. kinseyi = 1.46 ± 0.007 mm vs. that of asexual females = 1.05 ± 0.004 mm; Hood & Ott, 2017).
Redescription: Female antenna 13-segmented (asexual generation) (Fig. 4C) and 14-segmented (sexual generation) (Fig. 4E), male antenna 15-segmented and filiform. Head weakly sculptured, almost smooth or alutaceous to finely coriaceous. Occiput without distinct and sharp occipital carina. Ventral area of genae without vertical carinae. Malar space much shorter than height of compound eye and malar sulcus present. Lower face without striae radiating from sides of clypeus. Mesoscutum smooth and shiny. Notauli complete (Fig. 3B), anterior parallel and parapsidal lines absent (Figs 2F, 4F). Scutellar foveae present (Figs 2F, 4F). Mesopleuron smooth and shiny. Propodeal carinae sharply curved. Second metasomal tergum large and medially setose. Radial cell of the forewings open, partially infumated, Rs strongly angulate, with or without areolet (Figs 3B, 4A). Fore tibia prolonged on the anterior side into a curved spine (Figs 2C, 3A), with or without middle tibia curved spine. Tarsi with swollen base, not toothed. Body colour varies from light yellow to orange to reddish brown.KEY TO THE ASEXUAL AND SEXUAL GENERATIONS OF THE THREEBELONOCNEMASPECIES OF THE SOUTHERN AND SOUTH- EASTERN USA: 1. Antennae with 14 (females) or 15 (males, F1 excavated) segments.............................. 2 (sexual generation) 1’. Antennae with 13 segments .......................................................................................... 4 (asexual generation) 2. Spur on the anterior side of fore tibia longer than basitarsus and tibial spurs (Fig. 3A). Middle tibia with a smaller spur. Found onQ. geminatain Georgia and Florida........................................................B. fossoria2’. Spur on the anterior side of fore tibia shorter than basitarsus, approximately the same length as tibial spurs (Fig. 2C). Middle tibia without a spur. Found onQ. fusiformisorQ. virginiana................................. 3 3. Scutellar foveae deeply excavated, delimited on all sides, separated narrowly by a carina (Fig. 4F). Rs vein thickened but not infumated (Fig. 4E). Found west of Gautier, Mississippi (30.3858° N, 88.6117° W), associated withQ. fusiformisandQ. virginiana ............................................................................…B. kinseyi3’. Scutellar foveae shallow, weakly delimited posteriorly, separated broadly by a ridge (Fig. 2F). Rs vein thickened and infumated (Fig. 2E). Found east of Gautier, Mississippi, associated predominantly withQ. virginianaand rarely withQ. geminata.......................................................................................B. treatae4. Spur on the anterior side of fore tibia longer than basitarsus and tibial spurs (Fig. 3A). Middle tibia with a smaller spur. Fore wing small and curved, areolet absent (Fig. 3A). Found onQ. geminatain Georgia and Florida ................................................................................................................................................B. fossoria4’. Spur on the anterior side of fore tibia shorter than basitarsus, approximately the same length as tibial spurs. Middle tibia without a spur. Fore wing not curved, areolet present (could be small and indistinct) (Fig. 4A). Found onQ. fusiformisorQ. virginiana.......................................................................................... 5 5. Reddish brown in colour, areolet in fore wing small and indistinct (Fig. 4A). Found west of Gautier, Mississippi, associated withQ. fusiformisandQ. virginiana...........................................................B. kinseyi5’. Yellowish brown in colour, areolet in fore wing large and distinct (Fig. 2E). Found east of Gautier, Mississippi, associated predominantly onQ. virginianaand rarely withQ. geminata.................. B. treatae
description: Published as part of Zhang, Y. Miles, Egan, Scott P., Driscoe, Amanda L. & Ott, James R., 2021, One hundred and sixty years of taxonomic confusion resolved: Belonocnema (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) gall wasps associated with live oaks in the USA, pp. 1234-1255 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193 (4) on pages 1243-1245, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab001, http://zenodo.org/record/5761660