Andricus coombesi Pujade-Villar & Perez-Torres 2024, n. sp.
Creators: name: Pujade-Villar, Juli
name: Pérez-Torres, Betzabeth C.
name: Coombes, Allen J.
name: Aragón-García, Agustín
name: Rodríguez-Acosta, Maricela
name: López-Olguin, Jesús F.
name: Melika, George
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae
Andricus
Andricus coombesi

description: Andricus coombesi Pujade-Villar & Pérez-Torres n. sp.   
(Figs 1–3)  
 Type material. Holotype asexual female deposited in the collection of JP-V (University of Barcelona, UB) labelled as: “ MEX, Jardín Botánico de la BUAP, Puebla, Q. grahamii, (7.i.2023) 20.i.2023 ”, López-Olguín col. (black label); Holotype Andricus coombesi Pujade-Villar & Pérez Torres n. sp., desig. JP-V 2023” (red label). Paratypes (59 ǒ): same data as the holotype. Holotype and 19 paratypes deposited in UB, 10 paratypes in ColPos, 10 paratypes in PHDNRL, 10 paratypes in AMNH and 10 paratypes in USNM.   
 Additional material. 49 asexual females and 6 pupae with the same labels as Holotype; 3ǒ were dissected and used for SEM.   
 Voucher specimens. Herbarium specimens of the host tree, Coombes 1882, are deposited at FCME and HUAP.   
 Etymology. Named in recognition of the contribution of Allen Coombes (Jardín Botánico de la BUAP, Puebla) who was the one who found the galls of this species for the first time.   
 Diagnosis. Due to the appearance of the gall, it resembles the Andricus species that produce tuberous galls, although in the case of the new species the gall is not strongly lignified. Andricus coombesi Pujade-Villar & Pérez Torres n. sp. differs from all the species that induce tuberous galls by the absence of notauli, they are hidden in the rough surface sculpture and have simple tarsal claws. In addition, only the second metasomal tergum is pubescent while in A. wheeleri, A. tumefaciens and A. durangensis only the second metasomal tergum has a very scarce pubescence, and in the rest of species all metasomal tergites are pubescent. Moreover, in A. wheeleri the fore wing lacks cilia on the margin while in A. tumefaciens and A. durangensis the fore wing has short cilia on the margins as in the newly described species but A. coombesi Pujade-Villar & Pérez Torres n. sp. is smaller (more robust, 4.5–4.7 mm in A. tumefaciens and A. durangensis), the metascutellum is rectangular (constricted medially in A. tumefaciens and A. durangensis) and the median mesoscutal line is absent (present in A. tumefaciens and A. durangensis).   
 Description. Asexual female.   
Body dark brown with some black areas; clypeus black, mandibles brown, maxillary and labial palpi light brown; antenna dark brown, pedicel and distal parts of first flagellomeres yellowish; mesoscutum with three longitudinal black spots, tegula coloured as mesosoma; legs dark brown, sometimes slightly darker than mesosoma; metasomal terga dorsally darker; fore wing veins brown.  
Head (Figs 1a–c) strongly coriaceous, with white setae on lower face, 1.3× as broad as high and very slightly broader than mesosoma in frontal view, 2.2× as broad as long in dorsal view. Gena strongly coriaceous, broadened behind eye, around 1.3× as broad as transverse diameter of eye; malar space with radiating striae from clypeus and reaching eye; eye 2.1× as high as length of malar space. Eyes slightly converging ventrally. POL 1.5× as long as OOL, OOL 2.3× as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, 1.5× as long as LOL, ocelli rounded, all three equal in size. Transfacial distance 1.4× as long as height of eye and 1.6× as long as height of lower face (distance between antennal rim and ventral margin of clypeus); diameter of antennal torulus 1.4× as long as distance between them, distance between torulus and eye 1.1× as long as diameter of torulus. Lower face strongly coriaceous, with some weak striae, with elevated median area coriaceous, without striae and dense setae. Clypeus rectangular, flat, broader than high, carinated, ventrally almost straight, not emarginate and not incised medially; with anterior tentorial pit, epistomal sulcus and clypeo-pleurostomal line distinct. Frons, interocellar area and vertex reticulate, less impressed and with some weak carinae between central ocellus and toruli; occiput, postgena, postocciput coriaceous-imbricate. Postocciput around occipital foramen impressed, alutaceous, glabrous; posterior tentorial pit oval, slightly elongate; hypostomal carina emarginate, present at the basis of postgenal sulci, gular sulci absent; occipital foramen as high as height of postgenal bridge.  
Antenna (Fig. 1d) slightly longer than body, usually with 12 flagellomeres, sometimes with a partial suture towards the middle of F11, rarely F12 fused; pedicel 1.3× as long as broad, F1 1.1× as long as length of scape+pedicel and 1.3× as long as F2, F3 0.8× as long as F2, F3 1.2× as long as F4, F5 slightly longer than F6, subsequent flagellomeres slightly decreasing in length, F11 and F12 subequal and shorter than F10; placodeal sensilla in numerous rows on F5–F12, scarce in F4 and almost absent in F3.  
Mesosoma (Figs 1f, 2a–c) slightly longer than high in lateral view. Pronotum rugose, with sparse white setae and distinctive subparallel striae laterally, emarginate along lateral and dorsal edges. Propleuron aluaceous with sparse setae and strongly bordered. Mesoscutum rugose, with coriaceous interspaces, with few white setae, slightly broader than long (width measured across base of tegulae). Notaulus inconspicuous, obscured by sculpture; median mesoscutal line absent; anterior parallel line impressed, extends to half of mesoscutum length, coriaceous, glabrous, diverging distally; parapsidal line indicated by coriaceous surface, extends to half-length of mesoscutum; parascutal carina complete, smooth, glabrous, extends to half-length of mesoscutum and less impressed in posterior half. Transscutal articulation deep, distinct. Mesoscutellum slightly broader than long, nearly rounded; shorter than mesoscutum, uniformly rugose, overhanging metanotum; scutellar foveae transverse, alutaceous, with strong longitudinal parallel rugae on the bottom, nor distinctly divided by a central carina. Mesopleuron coriaceousreticulate, rugose in some areas, with white setae; speculum strongly coriaceous; mesopleural triangle coriaceous, with weak carinae, with dense white setae. Metapleural sulcus reaching mesopleuron slightly above half its height, upper part of sulcus present; dorsal axillar area coriaceous, with setae and rugae, lateral axillar area and axillar carina alutaceous, glabrous, with few irregular striae; subaxillular bar with parallel sides, smooth, glabrous; metanotal trough alutaceous longitudinally rugose, setose. Metascutellum rectangular coriaceous-rugose, glabrous ventral impressed area inconspicuous. Lateral propodeal carinae distinct, broad, bent outwards basally, central propodeal area alutaceous to weak coriaceous, glabrous, without central longitudinal carina, sometimes with some rugae; lateral propodeal area coriaceous with some weak carinae, with dense white setae; nucha short, with delicate rugae laterally, smooth dorsally.  
Fore wing (Fig. 3a) slightly longer than body, hyaline with some light brown areas, margin with very short cilia; radial cell open, 3.2× as long as broad, R1 and Rs nearly reaching wing margin; areolet absent; Rs+M visible up to half its length, its projection reaching basal vein in posterior 1/3 of its height.  
Legs with a reticulate sculpture. Tarsal claws simple (Fig. 1e), without a basal lobe, but basally broad.  
Metasoma (Figs 2d–e) as long as head+mesosoma, longer than high in lateral view, second metasomal tergum smooth, glabrous, with dense white setae anterolaterally, without micropunctures; subsequent terga and hypopygium smooth without setae; prominent part of ventral spine of hypopygium 5.3× as long as broad in ventral view, with short and sparse white setae ventrally. Body length 2.1–3.0 mm (n=25).  
 Gall (Figs 3c–j). Multilocular irregular gall, ovoid (7–18 mm long, 6–14 mm wide and 5–13 mm high), located on female flowers, completely deforming the acorn. Light yellowish when young, turning brown when mature. The surface is velvety when young, turning smooth when mature. Inside numerous oval larval chambers (2.8–3.0 × 1.6–1.8 mm) which are closely disposed one to other, with variable number (2–17). There is no space between larval chambers. The set of chambers is surrounded by a spongy tissue. The consistency of the gall is relatively hard to spongy.   
 Host plant. Only on Q. grahamii Benth. (section Lobatae). This species is considered endemic to Mexico (Rodríguez-Acosta & Coombes, 2020) and is found in the following states: Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala. The mentions from Guatemala, Belize and Honduras must be considered as misidentifications, possibly corresponding to Q. acutifolia Née.   
 Distribution. Mexico (Puebla).   
 Biology. Only the asexual generation is known. The galls appear in September; adults completely developed in December on young acorns. Adults emerge in January when the female flowers appear (flowering occurs between January and April); then the unknown sexual generation develops quickly because they would have to oviposit in the first phases of the developing acorns, because the gall begins to form in the first stages of development of the acorn (Coombes pers. obsrv.). Galls remain on the tree for several months after the adults emerged. Observed parasitism is low (see discussion). Female flowers in Q. grahamii are found in pairs so that on each acorn multilocular galls develop, which completely fuse into one mass, which is very often the case and the pair of acorns is lost.
description: Published as part of Pujade-Villar, Juli, Pérez-Torres, Betzabeth C., Coombes, Allen J., Aragón-García, Agustín, Rodríguez-Acosta, Maricela, López-Olguin, Jesús F. & Melika, George, 2024, Description of the first species of gall wasp (Hym., Cynipidae: Cynipini) on Quercus grahamii (Fagaceae), pp. 369-376 in Zootaxa 5403 (3) on pages 370-374, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5403.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/10562057