Ceroptres clavicornis Hartig, 1840

Lobato-Vila, Irene & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2019, Revision of world Ceroptresini (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) with the description of a new genus and five new species, Zootaxa 4685 (1), pp. 1-67 : 22-24

Ceroptres clavicornis Hartig, 1840

( Figures 3c ; 5e, f ; 11 d–f)

Ceroptres clavicornis Hartig, 1840 . Zeitschr. f. Entomol. 2: 197. Type material: ZSM [examined by the second author in Pujade- Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993)].

Ceroptres arator Hartig, 1841 . Zeitschr. f. Entomol. 3: 343. Type material: ZSM [examined by the second author in Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993)]. Synonymized by Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993: 53).

Ceroptres socialis Hartig, 1840 . Zeitschr. f. Entomol. 2: 197. Type material: ZSM [examined by the second author in Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993)]. Synonymized by Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993: 53).

Ceroptres melanomerus Hartig, 1841 . Zeitschr. f. Entomol. 3: 343. Type material: ZSM [examined by the second author in Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993)]. Synonymized by Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993: 53).

Cynips clavicornis (Hartig) Kaltenbach, 1874 . Die pflanz. Kl. Insec.: 224.

Aulax arator (Hartig) Thomson, 1877 . Opusc. Entomol.: 799.

Additional material (examined) (5♀). Material collected in France and deposited in UB with the following labels: ‘Rennes Réc. Hiver 41–42, Ecl. 1.3 moi 42’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘Univ. Bcn, J. Pujade-Villar, Barbotin col., ex. Andricus kollari ’ (white label) / ‘ Ceroptres clavicornis ♀ Hartig, 1840 , Vendrell-Dolcet det-08’ (white label) (2♀); ‘Rennes de C. kollari , printemps 1958’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘Univ. Bcn, J. Pujade-Villar, Barbotin col., ex. Andricus kollari ’ (white label) / ‘ Ceroptres clavicornis 1♀, 1♂, Hartig, 1840, Vendrell-Dolcet det-08’ (white label) (2♀); ‘La Roque d’An, A. kollari , E. 95–5–76, gall recoltei mars 74’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘ Ceroptres arator ?’ (white label, handwritten) / ‘Univ. Bcn, J. Pujade-Villar, Barbotin col.’ (white label) / ‘ Ceroptres clavicornis ♀, Hartig, 1840 , Vendrell-Dolcet det-10’ (white label) (1♀).

Diagnosis. This species can be separated from the rest of Ceroptres by the following combination of morphological traits: prominent part of the hypopygial spine very long (more than 3.0 times as long as wide; shorter in the rest of species) ( Figs 5e , 11f ); vertical carinae on the lower face complete, conspicuous in their whole length, straight and subparallel, delimiting a long depressed area that is slightly bulged just above the clypeus ( Fig. 11d ); almost glabrous body (very scarce pubescence) ( Fig. 5e, f ). Ceroptres clavicornis is morphologically similar to C. kovalevi Belizin, 1973 (= C. masudai Abe, 1997 syn. nov.), from which can be distinguished by the shape of vertical carinae on the lower face (spaced and slightly curved outwards in C. kovalevi ( Fig. 4a )), the mesoscutal sculpture (strongly coriaceous with weak discontinuous transversal elements in C. clavicornis ( Fig. 5f ), coriaceous with scarce small piliferous punctures in C. kovalevi ( Fig. 6j )) and the length of notauli (almost complete, but faint in the anterior 1/ 3 in C. clavicornis , complete and well-impressed in their whole length in C. kovalevi ( Fig. 6j ) (see the brief descriptions of both species and the key to valid species of Ceroptres ).

Brief redescription. Apart from the morphological traits mentioned in the diagnosis section, Ceroptres clavicornis is also characterized by having females with 12-segmented antennae (15-segmented in males according to Kieffer (1897 –1901)), subclavate and with the first segments usually dark ( Figs 3c , 5f ); median groove visible in the posterior 1/3 of the mesoscutum; mesoscutellum densely but weakly wrinkled, interspaces finely coriaceous; third metasomal tergum with a posterodorsal patch of micropunctures, more or less extended; radial cell from 2.7 to 3.0 times as long as wide; body mainly black ( Figs 3c , 5 e–f). For more details on the morphology of this species, see Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993) and Melika (2006).

Distribution. Probably throughout Western Palearctic ( Melika 2006). Known from Algeria, Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy (Sardinia), Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Ukraine and United Kingdom according to Askew et al. (2013).

Biology. According to Askew et al. (2013), this species is mainly associated with galls of Andricus , Biorhiza , Callirhytis , Cynips and Neuroterus on different oaks belonging to the Quercus section : Quercus faginea Lam. , Q. lusitanica , Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebl. , Q. pubescens , Q. pyrenaica Willd. and Q. robur according to Askew et al. (2013), as well as on other Circum-Mediterranean oaks of the same section.

Remarks. Ceroptres clavicornis was redescribed in Pujade-Villar & Nieves-Aldrey (1993: 55). Males of C. clavicornis have been rarely recorded and just Kieffer (1897 –1901) has provided some notes on their morphology.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Female faces of valid species of Ceroptres: a) C. catesbaei (type); b) C. cerri; c) C. clavicornis; d) C. confertus (type); e) C. cornigera (type); f) detail of the median ridge in the lower face of C. cornigera; g) head of C. cornigera in dorsal view; h) C. ensiger; i) C. frondosae (type); j) detail of the median ridge in the lower face of C. frondosae; k) head of C. frondosae in dorsal view.

FIGURE 4. Female faces of valid species of Ceroptres: a) C. kovalevi (type), discontinuous lines point out vertical carinae; b) C. lanigerae (type); c) C. minutissimi (type); d) C. montensis (type); e) C. petiolicola (type); f) C. pisum (type); g) C. quercusobtusilobae (type); h) C. rufiventris (type); i) C. snellingi (type).

FIGURE 5. a) Ceroptres catesbaei lateral and b) dorsal habitus (type); c) C. cerri lateral and d) dorsal habitus; e) C. clavicornis lateral and f) dorsal habitus; g) C. confertus lateral and h) dorsal habitus (type).

FIGURE 6. a) Ceroptres cornigera lateral and b) dorsal habitus (type); c) C. ensiger lateral habitus, d) detail of mesopleuron and e) dorsal habitus (type); f) C. frondosae lateral and g) dorsal habitus (type); h) head and mesosoma of C. kovalevi in lateral view, i) lateral metasoma and j) head and mesosoma in dorsal view (type).

FIGURE 11. Ceroptres cerri a) head in anterior view, b) mesosoma in lateral view and c) metasoma in lateral view; C. clavicornis d) head in anterior view, e) mesosoma in lateral view and f) metasoma in lateral view.