Phanacis dobrogicus, Şchiopu & Tataroǧlu & Katilmiş, 2024

Şchiopu, Ion, Tataroǧlu, Musa & Katilmiş, Yusuf, 2024, New species of gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Aulacideini and Phanacidini) inducing galls on plants of the genera Sonchus and Crepis (Asteraceae) in Romania (Dobrogea Province) and notes on their parasitoids, Zootaxa 5471 (1), pp. 33-55 : 44-53

Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n.

( Figs. 9–12 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE (♀): Romania, Dobrogea Province, Constanţa County, Eforie South (44°01’22.58’’ N, 28°38’57.95’’ E) on the western coast of Black Sea, Km 33 on the Constanţa-Mangalia road DN 39 (E87), near “23 August” village; ex. galls in basal leaves of Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia (M.Bieb.) Čelak. ; galls collected 16.VI.2011; adult emerged March 2012 (Schiopu leg.) . Holotype deposited in “G.A.” NMNH . PARATYPES: (21♀♀, 1♂), thus obtained: 9♀♀, Romania, Dobrogea Province, Constanta county, Eforie South-on the Black Sea coast; ex. galls on Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia collected on 26. VI.2011 ; adults emerged in March 2012: 10♀♀, Romania, Dobrogea Province, Constanta County, Neptun-on the coast of Black Sea ; ex. galls on Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia collected on 02.VII.2011 ; adults emerged in March 2012: 2♀♀, 1♂, Romania, Dobrogea Province, Constanta County, Comana village ; ex. galls on Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia collected on 22.VII.2012 ; adults emerged in April 2013; (Schiopu leg.). Paratypes deposited in “G.A.” NMNH (2♀♀) ; Coll. JP-V (2♀♀); ERL –PAU (1♀) ; Coll. SION (15♀♀, 1♂) .

Etymology. Derived from the name of Dobrogea Province (Southeastern Romania) where this species was first time found. Noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. The new species together with Phanacis rufipes Ionescu & Roman, 1959 and Phanacis lusitanica Tavares, 1904 form a group of species that develop in galls formed on herbaceous plants of the genus Crepis ( Asteraceae ). This species resembles P. rufipes , but differs in the following characters: POL 2.2 X as long as OOL and 4.5 X as diameter of lateral ocellus; F1, the longest flagellomere of antenna, 4.5 X longer than broad, almost equal in length with F2+F3, also F1 1.8 X longer than pedicel and 1.75 X longer than F2; median mesoscutal line evidence on 1/4 of length of scutum; forewing exceeds the body length by a distance equal to metasoma length; radial cell 2.8 X longer than wide; 2r curved; scutellar fovea large, deep, transversely; mesopleuron partially rugulose-striated centrally; galls formed in basal leaves of Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia , while in P. rufipes : POL 1.6 X as long as OOL and approx. 3.0 X as diameter of lateral ocellus; F1 1.3 X longer than F2; median mesoscutal line visible in the posterior third of the mesoscutum; forewings as long as body length; radial cell approx. 2.5 X longer than wide; 2r angled; scutellar fovea small and oval; mesopleuron irregularly coriaceous-rugose, without visible reticulation; galls formed in stem of Crepis pulchra L. Also , resembles P. lusitanica , from which it is still differentiated by: antenna 14 antennomeres in both sexes (female 13, male 14 antennomeres in P. lusitanica ); radial cell partially closed, R1 reaches anterior margin and extend a little over 1/3 of the length of radial cell, areola present (radial cell opened, R1 very short, does not reach the anterior margin of the wing, areolat absent in P. lusitanica ), Rs+M distinct, extends beyond half distance between areola and basalis (Rs+M indistinct, sometimes its pigmentation is completely absent in P. lusitanica ); galls into stem of Crepis vesicaria L.

There are sufficient differences in morphology and biology confirming the delimitation of the new species. In addition, the association with the host plant as well as the gall type, clearly separate this new species from the other known Phanacis species.

Description.

FEMALE (holotype).

Body length: 1.3–1.8 mm.

Colour: glossy black body; head and mesosoma black, antennae brown in colour, legs yellowish, metasoma chestnut to brown, hypopygium yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 9A–C ): seen dorsally, slightly exceeds the width of the mesosoma; 1.4 X wider than high, in frontal view, 2.2 X broader than long, seen from behind; frons, interocellar area and vertex fine coriaceous; very few white setae, especially on lower face and vertex; malar space 0.7 X as long as height of compound eye, with fine striae radiating from clypeus; transfacial distance 1.5 X as long as height of eye; diameter of antennal torulus 1.9 X as long as distance between them and 0.86 X as long as distance between torulus and eye margin; lower face reticulated, with sparse, strong striae radiating from clypeus, directed towards antennal sockets and lower margin of eye, without touching them; the epistomal sulcus, clypeo-pleurostomal line and tentorial pits distinct; clypeus rectangular (1.5 X as wide as heigh) indistinct coriaceous, not project over mandibles; POL 2.2 X as long as OOL, 2.4 X as long as LOL and 4.5 X as diameter of lateral ocellus; ocellar plate indistinctly raised; head, in posterior view, reticulate with very few white setae especially in lower area; gula smooth, not defined by gular sulci that are indistinct.

Antennae ( Fig. 12T–V ): filiform, composed of 14 antennomeres covered with short, silver-white setae; scapus 1.3 X as long than pedicel; pedicel elongated (1.8 X as long as thick), nearly 2.0 X broader than F1, measuring 1/2 of the length of the first flagellomere; F1 the longest flagellomere of antenna (slightly thicker at the end toward F2 than at the end toward the pedicel) 4.5 X as long than broad, almost equal in length to F2+F3; also, F1 1.8 X as long than pedicel and 1.75 X as long as F2; the following flagellomeres, except F12, are nearly congruent (equal in length) and 2.0 X as long than thick; F12 1.5 X as long than precedent flagellomeres and don’t swollen apically; placodeal sensilla, weakly impressed, present on all flagellomeres.

Male antenna similar to female: 14 antennomeres; pedicel of approx. 1.8 X broader than the proximal end of F1; F1 not modified, straight; placodeal sensilla present on all flagellomeres, also weakly printed; all segments, less scapus and pedicel, covered with short, sparsely distributed hairs.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 9E–F , 10G–L ): convex, slightly high than long, in lateral view. Pronotum dorsally imbricate, laterally reticulate, covered with sparse white setae dorsally, denser on lateral flanks and anterior edge; also, the pronotum, on the dorso-median line, measures 1/3 of distance measured on the outer lateral margin; submedian pronotal pits narrow, elongated, separated by indistinct carina, but united in the median part by a distinct linear groove. Scutum 1.9 X longer than scutellum, uniformly fine coriaceous; notauli complete, well impressed, reaching until pronotum; the median mesoscutal line evident on 1/4 of length of scutum, and continued with indistinct, shallow line, to pronotum; anterior parallel line, superficial impressed, extending to 1/3 of scutum length; parapsidal line shallow, indistinct, reaching tegula level. Scutellum rounded posteriorly, nearly as wide as long; not overhanging metanotum; coriaceous-reticulate dorsally, rugose on posterior face, with very few setae, especially in laterally; axillula triangular, smooth, only sparse setae on its central area; subaxillular bar smooth, shinning; propodeum with dense, white long setae; lateral propodeal carine nonparallel, slightly convergent anteriorly; the median propodeal area is rugose, provided with a median ridge from which several other ridges and wrinkles start, with numerous long white setae on its surface; lateral propodeal area with dense long setae; metanotal trough densely pubescent; scutellar foveae elongated, separated by a narrow carina, smooth, indistinct delimited posteriorly. Mesopleuron rugose-striate, with rare, long interrupted striae, especially in the central area; the speculum and lower part (apparently smooth) with indistinct, interrupted short striae; mesopleural triangle with dense pubescence in the lower part and smooth, without setae, in the upper half.

Legs ( Fig. 12Q ): general colour yellowish, except trochanters which are brown-black; all segments, covered with white setae; tibia, especially toward the tarsus, with dense white, erect, linearly arranged setae; tarsal claws without basal lobe, with a few long setae.

Wings ( Fig. 12R, S ): the front wing exceeds the length of the body by a distance equal to metasoma length; hyaline, covered with a fine pubescence; the anterior margin (in the open area of the radial cell) as well as the apical edge, up to below the median vein, provided with white dense, long, erect cilia; the rest of the edges shortly ciliated; brown veins, well pigmented and defined; radial cell partially closed; Rs touches the frontal edge of the wing and extends a very short distance; R1 slightly arched, reaches anterior margin and extends a little over 1/3 of the length of radial cell; also, radial cell 2.85 X longer than wide and 1.4 X longer than its opening (distance between tip of R1 and tip of Rs); areolet present, slightly larger and more obvious in female than in male; 2r curved; Rs+M extends beyond half the distance between areola and basalis. The hind wing long ciliated starting from the apical edge (tip of the wing) continuing to the proximal one.

Metasoma ( Fig. 11M–O ): slightly compressed laterally, in posterior view; 1.24 X as longer than high, in lateral view; light chestnut colour in the antero-dorsal part (in T2) and darken in the back; metasomal T2, antero-laterally, with a long white sparse, scattered setae, which not forming a distinct patch; it is glabrous and shiny, without punctures, like the subsequent tergites and hypopygium; T2 the longest tergite of the metasoma 2.5 X longer than T3, and represent nearly 1/2 of the metasoma length; also, T2+T3 occupy 2/3 of the length of metasoma; prominent part of the ventral spine short, don’t exceeding the length of the hypopygium, covered with long sparse white setae.

Larva ( Fig. 11P , 15N–O ): apoda; yellowish–white colour.

Host plant ( Fig. 13 ): Crepis foetida subsp. rhoeadifolia (M. Bieb.) Čelak. ( Asteraceae : Cichorinae). Synonyms: Crepis rhoeadifolia M. Bieb. ; Crepis interrupta Sm. ; Barkhausia rhoeadifolia (M. Bieb.) Rchb. ; Barkhausia interrupta (Sm.) Lindl. ; Hieracium rhoeadifolium (M. Bieb.) Fisch. ex Steud. The plant emits a strong unpleasant, repulsive, stinky smell (hence the name).

Gall ( Fig. 14 , 15 ): most species of the genus Phanacis develop galls in the stem of the host plants (especially Asteraceae ); with few exceptions, galls are formed on the root [e.g. Ph. carthami Gussak. ] or the flower head [e.g. Ph. eugeniae (Diak.) ] ( Melika, 2006). Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n. is, for now, the only species of herb gall wasp (from Phanacis genus) that develops in plurilocular galls produced exclusively on leaves (in the petiole or midrib). Plurilocular galls appear as small swellings (5–10 mm Φ) and are polymorphic in shape: spherical, fusiform, cylindrical, pyramidal, lenticular-biconvex, etc.; they are glabrous, with a glossy appearance. A gall comprises a group of 2–8 ovoid, unilocular larval chambers (2.5–3 mm Φ) dispersed in a soft, hypertrophied tissue of the petiole or main vein of the basal leaves of the host plant. The galls are formed towards the end of spring, May–June, after oviposition by the females in the petiole or the main rib of the basal leaves, in the area of the root collar of the host plant. The young galls are light green in colour, at maturity in July they turn brown. As a rule, the leaf blade on which the galls have formed dries up and falls, the galls remaining fixed on the stem of the host plant, through the winter, until the spring of the following year. A single multiple gall is formed on a leaf, and between 1–4 multilocular galls can develop on a plant (average number of multiple galls/host plant = 1.8). There is no external morphological indication of the presence of galls on the host plant. The galls are difficult to detect, being masked by the other leaves, they become evident only after the host plant is pulled out of the ground. The galls are aerial or semi-subterranean, present in the petiole (sometimes in the main vein) of the basal leaves that are in contact with the soil. Being a rare gall, the attack frequency is low: F=10–13%. The optimal months for gall collection is during July–August of the development year.

Life cycle: monovoltine species. Reproduction bisexuate-normal (Sex ratio = 21♀♀, 1♂); the males being rarer leads us to the hypothesis of a parthenogenetic-telitoca type reproduction. The adults emerge in early spring (March– April) from the galls formed in the preceding year. Females lay eggs, as a rule, in the petiole or in the main vein of the basal leaves of the host plant in spring (May), the larvae develop in summer, over wintering in the larval-pupal stage within the galls that are persistent on the host plants, until the following spring, when the adults emerge.

Associated fauna: parasitoids emerged in July 2011, while the cynipids emerged in the following spring (2012).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n. (♀): A, head in frontal view; B, head in dorsal view; C, head in posterior view; D, mesosoma in dorsal view; E, pronotum in dorsal view; F, pronotum detail with submedian pronotal pits.

FIGURE 10. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n. (♀): G, pronotum in lateral view; H, I, mesosoma-postero-lateral, respectively lateral view; J, mesosoma in posterior view; K, scutum in dorsal view.

FIGURE 11. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n. (♀): L, scutellum in dorsal view; M, metasoma in lateral view; N, metasoma in posterior view; O, hypopygium in ventral view; P, head of larva-frontal wiev; Q, tarsal claws.

FIGURE 12. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n. (♀): R, forewing; S, radial cell; T, U, female antenna; V, male antenna, pedicel + F1–F3.

FIGURE 13. Crepis foetida ssp. rhoeadifolia (M.Bieb.) Čelak: host plant (photos by I. Schiopu).

FIGURE 14. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n.: a–j, mature galls (photos by I. Schiopu).

FIGURE 15. Phanacis dobrogicus sp. n.: k, mature galls; l, m, plurilocular isolated galls; n, o, sections through galls showing the larval chambers (photos by I. Schiopu).