Soparia Nastasi, 2024

Nastasi, Louis F. & Deans, Andrew R., 2024, New herb gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Aulacideini) from Kyrgyzstan, with description of a new genus and a review of the genus Panteliella Kieffer, 1901, Zootaxa 5537 (4), pp. 511-526 : 512

Soparia Nastasi gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8B51576B-67DD-4194-8828-30CAC5996F15

( Figs. 1–6 )

Type species: Soparia oshensis Nastasi sp. nov., described below.

Etymology. From the Kyrgyz terms чөп and сары аары (phoneticized as çöp and sarı aarı), meaning “herb” and “wasp” respectively. Gender feminine, following Article 30.2.4 ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999).

Diagnosis. Soparia gen. nov. is distinguishable from all other genera of Aulacideini by the following combination of characters: Female antennae ( Fig. 1 ) with 13 antennomeres, with F2 conspicuously longer than F1. Facial radiating striae conspicuous and complete, traceable from clypeus to ventral eye margin ( Fig. 2 ). Fore wing with marginal cell closed, with areolet present but with venation faint, and with conspicuous setae along distal margin ( Fig. 6 ). Notauli ( Fig. 3 ) incomplete, narrow, and poorly impressed, most apparent in posterior half of mesoscutum. Mesopleuron striate-reticulate throughout ( Fig. 5 ). Second metasomal tergite with a conspicuous anterolateral setose patch ( Fig. 1 ).

The aforementioned characters make Soparia relatively similar to Aulacidea Ashmead, 1897 , especially regarding the closed marginal cell of the fore wing and the presence of a conspicuous setose patch on the second metasomal tergite. Soparia is easily distinguished from Aulacidea by the sculpture of the mesopleuron. In Aulacidea , the mesopleuron is entirely striate except for several species (including A. acroptilonica which has been reported in Kyrgyzstan) in which there is a small area of reticulate sculpture in the ventral third. In Soparia , the mesopleuron is entirely striate-reticulate throughout. Similarly, Aulacidea species have complete, deeply impressed notauli, except for a few species in which they are weakly impressed in the anterior third. In Soparia , the notauli are incomplete and relatively weakly impressed throughout and are most conspicuous only in the posterior half of the mesoscutum.

Lastly, Soparia greatly resembles some species of the Nearctic genus Antistrophus Walsh, 1869 . While species of Antistrophus exhibit striate-reticulate sculpture on the mesopleuron, they all lack a conspicuous setose patch on second metasomal tergite, and all have an open marginal cell ( Nastasi et al. 2024a, 2024b). Antistrophus is also exclusively Nearctic in distribution and induces galls only on plants native to the region ( Nastasi & Deans 2021, Nastasi et al. 2024b).

Remarks. See treatment of Soparia oshensis Nastasi sp. nov. below for description, biology, distribution, and remarks.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Soparia oshensis Nastasi gen. and sp. nov. All images show holotype female INHS Insect Collection 288148. (1) Lateral habitus. (2) Head in anterior view; dotted line indicates ventral margin of clypeus. (3) Mesoscutum in dorsal view. (4) Scutellum in dorsal view. (5) Mesopleuron in lateral view. (6) Wings.