ISSN 2816-6531

New country record and commentary for Aulacidea hei Wang et al. (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Aulacideini)

Louis F.  
Nastasi  
authors orcid
Andrew R.  
Deans  
authors orcid
Tags: Arthropoda, Aulacidea hei, Cynipidae, gall wasp, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Russia
Number 36, 
9 December 2024

Instroduction

The herb gall wasp fauna of the Eastern Palearctic is a diverse but understudied assemblage (Melika 2006). Recently, two species have been described from China: Aulacidea hei Wang et al., 2012 and A. manchuria Nastasi, 2024 (Nastasi & Deans 2024). While the latter species was described with high-quality images and a detailed discussion of its taxonomy, A. hei is virtually unknown aside from a morphological description and several photos. We discovered an herb gall wasp among unsorted cynipoids on loan from the Entomology Museum of Utah State (EMUS, Logan, Utah, USA) that perfectly agrees with the original description and images of A. hei. Locating this specimen allows us to re-illustrate key diagnostic characters, discuss its placement within the Aulacideini, and highlight important label data. The new specimen was collected in Russia, a new country record for A. hei.

Results and discussion

Aulacidea hei Wang, Liu, & Chen, 2012

Material examined. 1 ♀ (Figs 1–4) – EMUS_CYN_0013. Russia: Primorsky Krai: Gornotayozhnoye; mountain, taiga habitat; 43.66˚, 132.25˚; coll. 23–27 June 1999; M. V. Michailovskaya leg.; collected in Malaise trap: https://data.canadensys.net/micropublications/resource?r=specimen_36

Diagnosis and morphology. Aulacidea hei is highly distinct from other Aulacideini by the following combination of characters: lower face and genae yellowish-brown (Fig. 2); female antenna with 13 antennomeres, with F2 longer than F1; posterior mesoscutellum excavated, appearing deeply concave in dorsal view (Fig. 4, arrow); notauli complete, deeply impressed across entire length of mesoscutum (Fig. 3); fore wing marginal cell closed (Fig. 1); second metasomal tergite with conspicuous anterolateral patch of dense setae (Fig. 1). An excavated posterior mesoscutellum is not known in other Aulacideini, although a slight, nearly indistinct excavation is sometimes present in species of Antistrophus Walsh in Riley & Walsh, 1869 (Nastasi, pers. obs.). While not explicitly indicated in the original description, the mesoscutellar foveae of A. hei are also relatively unique amongst Aulacideini; the mesoscutellar foveae (Fig. 4) are short and transverse-ovate, occupying about anterior quarter of mesoscutellum, and with interior sculpture strongly rugose-reticulate. Lastly, in the original description, Wang et al. (2012) state that F1 is 0.9× as long as F2. In our specimen, F1 is 0.7× as long as F2, with F2 much longer than F1; this is also the case in the antenna image of the holotype accompanying Wang et al.’s description.

Remarks. This specimen is the first known individual of Aulacidea hei beyond the holotype female (Wang et al. 2012). This species was described from China, and our new specimen represents a new record from Russia to the east of the Chinese border. Specimen label indicates that this specimen was collected in a taiga; this habitat type has not been discussed in detail in the literature in relation to herb gall wasps, although the regions from which many herb gall wasps are known certainly contain taigas or similar habitats. Given the wide expanse of taigas and similar habitats across the Holarctic, the presence of A. hei could indicate the presence of yet-unidentified communities in need of urgent conservation given established impacts of rising temperatures and climate change.

As mentioned elsewhere (e.g., Nastasi & Deans 2024), the genus Aulacidea Ashmead, 1897 is polyphyletic, and most taxa currently placed there need to be moved to new genera. The high degree of morphological distinction exhibited by A. hei suggests that it should likely be placed in a new genus in a broader revisionary study. In their description, Wang et al. (2012) state that A. hei is similar to A. parvula Diakontschuk, 1984. After consulting Diakontschuk’s (1984) description and Melika’s (2006) key to Palearctic Aulacidea, the resemblance between A. hei and A. parvula appears highly superficial; the species differ by many characters, especially those mentioned in the above diagnosis. At present, there are no other Aulacideini that are clearly related to A. hei on the basis of morphology.

Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to Charles Davis (Frost Entomological Museum), who assisted in sorting cynipoid wasps in pursuit of relevant taxa, and to Dr. James Pitts (Utah State University), who facilitated the loan of the studied specimen.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DEB-1856626 and DEB-2338008. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. LFN was supported by two awards from the Society of Systematic Biologists: Mini-ARTS and the Graduate Student Research Award.

References

1.

Ashmead WH (1897) Description of some new genera in the family Cynipidae. Psyche 8 (253): 67–69. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12122986

2.

Diakontschuk, L. A. (1984) New species of Cynipidae (Cynipidae, Hymenoptera) from Georgia. Vestnik Zoologii, 3, 74–77.

3.

Melika, G. (2006) Gall wasps of Ukraine, Volume 1. Vestnik zoologii, The Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine. pp. 1–300.

4.

Nastasi, L. F. & Deans, A. R. (2024) Aulacidea manchuria Nastasi sp. nov., a new herb gall wasp from China (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Aulacideini), with commentary on hawkweed gall wasps (Asteraceae: Hieraciinae). Zootaxa, 5492 (4), 582–588. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5492.4.6

5.

Riley CV, Walsh B (1869) The Lygodesmia pea-gall. The American Entomologist 2 (2): 73–74. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25327145

6.

Wang Y. P., Liu Z, & Chen X. X. (2012) Taxonomic study of Cynipidae (Hymenoptera) from China, with description of one new species. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 37 (4), 785–794.

Figures

Aulacidea_hei_plates-01

Figs 1–2. Aulacidea hei, ♀ EMUS_CYN_0013. 1: Lateral habitus. 2: Head, anterior view.

Aulacidea_hei_plates-02

Figs 3–4. Aulacidea hei, ♀ EMUS_CYN_0013. 3: Mesoscutum. 4: Scutellum; arrow indicates posterior excavation.