Josephiella microcarpae, Beardsley & Rasplus, 2001

Beardsley, JW & Rasplus, J-Y, 2001, A new species of Josephiella (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) forming leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa L. (Moraceae), Journal of Natural History 35 (1), pp. 33-40 : 35-39

Josephiella microcarpae , sp. n.

(®gures 2±4)

Female (W gure 4B). Length of holotype 2.2 mm. Body uniformly dark brown; antennae and legs, including coxae, mostly pale yellow, femora slightly darkened, pretarsi dark; wings hyaline, veins pale yellow-brown, semi-transparent; mouthparts pale. Body weakly sclerotized, gaster and mesosoma tending to collapse and shrivel in air-dried specimens. Integumental sculpture consisting of weakly to moderately developed reticulation; head (®gure 3A±C) reticulate in dorsal occipital area behind ocelli, genal areas and face lateral of antennal scrobes, from clypeal margin upwards, becoming evanescent near upper margin of parascrobal areas. Pronotum with moderately well-developed reticulation, similar to head in pattern; mesoscutum (®gure 3D) smooth centrally with weakly developed semi-diagonally oriented reticulation on lateral lobes; notauli weakly or not at all developed, not reaching posterior margin of scutum; scutellum (®gure 3D) smooth, with weak, longitudinally oriented reticulation; axillary sutures weakly indicated, intersecting transscutal articulation near midline. Propodeum (®gure 3D) weakly reticulate, lacking carinae except on margins of anteriorly directed spiracular foveae. Hind coxae (®gure 3D) with dorsal surfaces reticulate. Gaster smooth and shining.

Setae of head and mesosoma sparse, distributed as in J. malabarensis , but apparently more elongate, those of face averaging about 45±55 m m long (®gure 3A±C). Longer setae of mesosoma mostly 60±75 m m long; sparsely scattered, and in a continuous row (ca 10) on posterior margin, on pronotum; less numerous on mesonotum. Mesonotum with one conspicuous pair of forward directed setae near posterior margin and three or four laterally on each side; axillae each with one such seta; scutellum with two pairs of elongate setae sublaterally, one near posterior margin and one near midlength; a few short inconspicuous short setae (12±15 m m) present on scutellum and axillae, particularly laterally. Gaster largely bare, with a few ®ne setae in transverse line on each tergite.

Head globular, in dorsal view (®gure 3A) wider than long (ca 7:4), ocelli in broadly obtuse triangle, area between them slightly raised and ¯attened, distance between posterior ocelli more than two times distance from ocellus to ocular margin, posterior ocellus (po)±anterior ocellus (ao) distance greater than distance between po and ocular margin; in frontal view (®gure 3B) slightly wider than high (7:6), face broad, the interocular distance equal to more than three times width of compound eye; clypeal margin bilobed, with relatively deep, narrow mesal notch. Occipital carina absent, although in dried specimens a crease sometimes present, often apparently nearly encircling foramen magnum below. Antennae inserted close together near middle of face, scrobes shallow (®gure 3B); antenna (®gures 2A, 3C) total length about 570 m m, scape slightly more than two times as long as wide, pedicel constricted basally, shorter than scape, longer than individual funicle segments, funicle with ®ve segments, plus very small basal anellus, hardly visible in pointmounted specimens, funicle segments subequal in length, becoming progressively slightly broader toward apex, club about as long as last two funicle segments combined, apparently unsegmented, basic three segments indicated by marginal constrictions and sensory ridges. Mandibles identical, with three teeth, lower tooth more strongly developed and somewhat separated from upper teeth (®gure 2C).

Mesosoma (®gure 3D) with scutellum broadly rounded behind; propodeum ca four times as wide as long, spiracles at ends of relatively deep, anteriorly curved fovea.

Fore wing (®gure 4A, B) hyaline, with venation very similar to J. malabarensis , marginal vein shorter than stigmal, postmarginal ca one-half as long as marginal; with ca six large setae on submarginal vein, two on marginal and one at apex of postmarginal; marginal and postmarginal with several smaller setae; discal setae of wing sparse, as in J. malabarensis , mostly small (ca 6 m m, long) and somewhat spiniform; apical fringe setae short (ca 15±18 m m long), moderately dense.

Legs similar to J. malabarensis ; hind tibia (®gure 2D) with a comb of ®ve slightly curved spines on inner face near apex, a series of ca eight spines and several long setae on outer margin.

Gaster globular, dorsally humped and nearly as long as head plus mesosoma combined when distended with ova, nearly sessile, the petiolar segment much broader than long (®gure 3D), hypopygium not reaching apex.

Male. Fully winged, similar to female in colour and form, except for slightly smaller average size (length of allotype 1.1 mm), and details as follows: Antenna (®gure 2B) shorter (ca 480 m m long) with three funicle segments plus very narrow anellus (as in female); club distinctly two-segmented, basic three-segmented condition indicated by marginal constriction and sensory plates. Gaster less strongly developed, relatively ¯at, elongate-oval in dorsal outline, about as long as mesosoma; genitalia (®gure 2E) well developed, with conspicuous digiti and digital spines.

Holotype female and male allotype. Hawaiian Is.: Oahu I.: Honolulu, University of Hawaii, nanoa, July 1994 (J. W. Beardsley) ex leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa . Paratype: Hawaiian Is. : Kauai I.: Alexander Dam, 2 February 1992 (A. Asquith), galls on Ficus leaves. Molokai I.: Kualapuu in coOEee ®eld, 30 September to 14 October 1994, W. D. Perreira coll., blue sticky board trap (1 female) ; napulehu nr. Ililiopae Heiau , el. 60 ft, J. W. Beardsley and W. D. Perreira colls., sweeping (1 male) ; 22 July 1994, W. D. Perreira coll., reared ex leaves of Ficus microcarpa (3 females, 2 males); naunaloa, el. ca 1200 ft, 24 June to 8 July 1994, W. D. Perreira and M. Fukuda colls., yellow sticky board trap (2 females). Oahu I.: Honolulu, U. H. Manoa Campus, el ca 60 ft, 30 May 1989, J. W. Beardsley coll., reared ex leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa (30 females) ; same data as holotype and allotype (1 female, 2 males) ; Honolulu, U. H. Manoa , 28 June 1989, W. Nagamine coll., ex Ficus retusa (5 F. microcarpa) (4 females, USNM) ; Honolulu , McCully St. overpass, el. ca 60 ft, 8 October 1994, J. W. Beardsley coll., reared ex leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa (15 females) ; Konahuanui , el. 3100 ft, 14 February 1993, W. D. Perreira coll. (2 females) .

California: Orange County: Santa Ana , 3 October 1997, J. N. Nisson coll., reared from leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa (5 females); Orange, 12 November 1997, J. N. Nisson and B. Sanford colls., reared ex leaf galls on Ficus microcarpa (3 females, 2 males) .

Canary Islands: Tenerife : 1997, IIE 23716, in galls on Ficus nitida (5 F. microcarpa) (3 females) .

Holotype and allotype deposited in B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii . Paratypes in Bishop Museum and Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Honolulu , in California Department of Food and Agriculture , Sacramento ; USNM Washington; National History Museum in London ; INRA collection Montpellier .

The new species can be easily separated from J. malabarensis Narendran by the very small annellus, hardly visible (vs well developed); the notauli obliterated (vs visible) and the gaster globular, not laterally compressed.

All rearings of these wasps in Hawaii yielded predominantly females, and in some instances several hundred females were obtained without any males. Many of these specimens were preserved dry or in ¯uid, were not designated as paratypes, and are not listed in the enumeration of specimens studied above. In the collections where some males were reared, these constituted around 2% of the total number obtained. No ¯ightless male forms were ever found, although these were searched for both by visual scrutiny of emerged wasps and by dissecting leaf galls. These ®nding suggest that this species may reproduce normally by parthenogenesis, but further research is needed to clarify its mode of reproduction. Josephiella microcarpae is believed to have been introduced, apparently accidentally, into Hawaii shortly before its discovery there in 1989, and into California, probably from Hawaii, in 1997. We believe that it probably originated somewhere within the native range of Ficus microcarpa , in South-East Asia.