Atrusca brevipennata

Quercus gambelii, subturbinella [turbinella]
Leaf galls
Detachable
Oak apple like Fig 87 [Atrusca bella]. Colo.

Diplolepis brevipennata

This species, whose type locality is Manitou, Colo., seems to be very common on all the oaks in the region of the Spanish Peaks, It occurs on every type of oak found about Las Vegas Hot Springs, and extends as far south as the Sandia Mountains. In the Garden of the Gods on October 4, 1921, galls on Quercus gambelii contained both pupae and adults. At Wetmore the galls were common, and on October 6 contained adults ready to emerge which were found dead (and others living) in the box when the material was examined on December 31. Galls sent to Washington (Hopkins U. S. No. 15635«) gave flies October 31, November 15, and January 10. At the Alvarado ranger station near West Cliff the galls were rare. Adults were chewing out of the inner cell at La Veta on October 10 and could be found among the fibers. At Trinidad galls were seen on Q. fendleri. In New Mexico the galls were seen at Raton, Wagon Mound, Shoemaker, Glorieta, and at Tijeras a few occurred on fendleri and grisea and one gall was found on the same bush of undulata that bore the similar galls of a fully-winged species Diplolepis bella (Bassett). This is the most southern point where the writer found the one and the most northern locality for the other.

Andricus pellucidus, new species

Osten-Sacken, 1873

Galls: Globular, smooth, dull or somewhat shining, thin-shelled, yellowish to pinkish, translucent galls, monothalamous, 8-15 mm. in diameter, empty except for a few, very fine radiating fibers which hold the larval cell central in the gall.

Range: Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The gall is very pretty, being even thinner than the galls of Dryophanta bella, D dugesi, and D rubrae, which it resembles.

Cynips (dugèsi) brevipennata (Gillette)
agamic form

[No photos of this gall are included]

[no name] Osten Sacken, 1873, Hayden Rpt. U.S. Geol. Surv.: 567, No. 1. Kinsey, 1926, Introd. Biol., fig. 277a.
Holcaspis brevipennata Gillette, 1893, Ent. News 4:31. Gillette, 1896, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 23:93, 96. Dalla Torre and Kieffer, 1902, Gen. Ins. Hymen. Cynip.: 53. Beutenmüller, 1909, Journ. N.Y. Ent. Soc. 17:46. Beutenmüller, 1909, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 26:42, pl. 9 figs. 4-5. Thompson, 1915, Amer. Ins. Galls: 17, 39.
Disholcaspis brevipennata Dalla Torre and Kieffer, 1910, Das Tierreich 24:373, 632, 634, 636, 811. Felt, 1918, N.Y. Mus. Bull. 200:100, fig. 63 (4-5). Kinsey, 1920, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 42:398. Houard, 1928, Marcellia, 24:106.
Andricus pellucidus Kinsey, 1920, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 42:309, 384, pl. 23 figs. 19-21.
Diplolepis brevipennata Weld, 1922 (not all records), Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 61 (18):7. Weld, 1926, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 68 (10):19.
Cynips dugès i var. A Kinsey, 1927, Field and Lab. Man. in Biol.: 110.
Cynips dugès i brevipennata Kinsey, 1930, Ind. Univ. Studies 84-86:282, figs. 44, 262, 273, 278.

GALL.-Similar to all galls of the C. dugèsi and C. bella complexes; mature galls light rosy tan, unspotted; often shining; of moderate size, up to 19. mm., averaging nearer 14. mm. in diameter.

HOSTS.—White oaks of the Q. Gambelii complex (= Q. undulata Gillette and other older authors, not undulata of recent authors). Also on Q. fendleri (acc. Weld), and Q. grisea (acc. Weld).

RANGE.-Colorado: Manitou (Gillette; brevipennata types. Also galls, Kinsey coll.). Colorado Springs (Carpenter, pellucidus types). Colorado Springs, 25 SE (Holloway in Kinsey coll.). Happy Canyon (20 SE Denver). Palmer Lake (I. C. Campbell in Kinsey coll.). Trinidad (galls, Holloway in Kinsey coll. Also Weld). Morley, Wetmore, West Cliff, La Veta, Spanish Peaks (acc. Weld).

New Mexico: Raton, Wagon Mound, Shoemaker, Glorieta, Tijeras, Las Vegas Hot Springs (acc. Weld). Raton, 8 N (galls, Holloway in Kinsey coll.). Raton Pass (W. J. Hughes in Kinsey coll.). Raton, 28 E (C. Schwachheim in Kinsey coll.). Santa Fe, 12 E (galls, Holloway in Kinsey coll.).

Confined to an area in Colorado and New Mexico, east of the Continental Divide, extending from Denver, Colorado, south to a point (Tijeras) east of Albuquerque, N.M. Replaced in Colorado west of the Divide by C. cubitalis; replaced elsewhere in the Southwest by still other species of the dugès i complex. Figure 18.

INQUILINES.–Synergus similis Gillette (acc. Gillette 1896). S. atripes Gillette (acc. Gillette 1896). S. oneratus (Harris) (acc. Dalla Torre and Kieffer 1910). Doubtful determination.

LIFE HISTORY..—Larvae: August 22-25 (in most cases too small to breed). Pupae: October 4. Adults: in galls October 6, 31; November 9. Emerging October 31. November 15, 20, 26. December 15. January 10. Most of the emergence in November. See Kinsey 1930: 284 for further details.

This short-winged insect is the best-known species of the complex, occurring on the eastern front of the Rockies in Colorado and New Mexico in a region where no species of the Cynips bella complex is found. Brevipennata is, consequently, the only producer of the oak-apple galls in that area.

From the other distinctly short-winged species representing the dugèsi complex in the United States, brevipennata is distinct in having a generally bright rufous body color, a small but distinct areolet, and faint markings in the cubital cell. Of the two other short-winged species, cubitalis, in Colorado west of the Divide, has a nearly closed areolet and a nearly solid line of marks paralleling the cubital vein; and pupoides, in West Texas, has a generally dark rufous color with heavier marks in the cubital cell. These three short-winged insects must have originated one from the other, the first coming by direct mutation from such a long-winged type as C. simulatrix or C. subnigra in Southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Atrusca brevipennata
Little-oak-apple-gall wasp
[Page 194]

Hosts: Quercus turbinella, gambelii

On shrub live oak, galls occur only near a marginal spine. The surface of these monothalamous galls is slightly rough or veiny, irregular, and somewhat pink-beige to rusty brown, blotchy, dull, and non-glossy.

Range: CO; west of Las Vegas, NV

Atrusca brevipennata (Gillette, 1893)

Figs 75–88

Synonymy
Holcaspis brevipennata Gillette, 1893: 31.
Disholcaspis brevipennata (Gillette): Dalla Torre & Kieffer 1910: 373.
Andricus pellucidus Kinsey, 1920: 309. Synonym in Weld 1922: 7.
Diplolepis brevipennata (Gillette): Weld 1922: 7.
Cynips dugesi variety brevipennata (Gillette): Kinsey 1930: 282, female, gall.
Cynips (dugesi) brevipennata (Gillette): Kinsey 1936: 97, female, gall.
Atrusca brevipennata (Gillette): Weld 1951: 637.

Types examined

HOLOTYPE female with red label “Type”, pink label “Colo. 1876”, Gillette handwriting label “Holcaspis brevipennata Gill.”, deposited in AMNH, NYC, examined by GM. Also, one COTYPE female of Andricus pellucidus (insect damaged): “Colo. Springs, 9.28.73. Colo, W. L. Carpenter coll.”, “Cynips brevipennata Kinsey det.”, red “Andricus pellucidus, Cotype”, deposited in AMNH, NYC, examined by GM.

Material examined

One female “USA, New Mexico, Chama, ex Q. gambelli, leg. J.R. Zimmerman, 1987.09.20; adult emerge 1987.10.01.” Two females “Las Vegas 10–11.21. N.M., galls 12.31.21, adults Nov. Dec.”, “Quercus fendleri, Weld. coll.”, “Cynips brevipennata Kinsey det. 27”; 2 females “Hopk. USA, 15635”, “Reared Nov.15.21”, “Quercus gambelii”, “Wetmore, Colo”, “L.H. Weld collector”, “Atrusca brevipennata det. J.R. Zimmerman”.

Gall (Fig. 88)

Similar to all galls of the Kinsey’s bella and dugesi complexes. Mature galls light rosy tan, unspotted, often shining, up to 19 mm, in average 14 mm in diameter.

Biology

The asexual generation is only known to induce leaf galls on Q. gambelii, Q. sinuata (= Q. undulata), Q. turbinella. Mature galls in late autumn; adults start to emerge from December till January–February next year.

Distribution

USA: Colorado, New Mexico.

Cynips dugesi variety brevipennata
agamic form

Holcaspis brevipennata
Disholcaspis brevipennata
Andricus pellucidus
Diplolepis brevipennata
Cynips dugesi var A Kinsey

GALL. — As described for the species. Apparently not to be distinguished from other varieties of dugesi unless averaging smaller (types up to 15.0 mm. in diameter), with a thinner and more translucent shell. On leaves of the several forms of Quercus Gambelii (= Q. undulata Gillette, not recent authors), Q. fendleri (acc. Weld), and Q. grisea (acc. Weld). Figure 262.

RANGE. — Colorado: Manitou (Gillette; brevipennata types). Colorado Springs (Carpenter, pellucidus types). Trinidad and Morley (acc. Weld 1922). Wetmore, West Cliff, La Yeta, and Spanish Peaks (acc. Weld 1926). New Mexico: Raton, Wagon Mound, Shoemaker, Glorieta, and Tijeras (acc. Weld 1926). Las Vegas Hot Springs (acc. Weld 1922, inch Kinsey coll.). 28 miles east of Raton (C. Schwachheim in Kinsey coll.). Probably confined to a limited area in the mountain region of southern Colorado and more northern New Mexico. Figure 44.

INQUILINES . — Synergus similis Gillette (acc. Gillette 1896). S. atripes Gillette (acc. Gillette 1896). S. oneratus (Harris) (acc. Dalla Torre and Kieffer 1910).

Weld found both pupae and adults in galls collected at Manitou as early as October 4 (in 1921), and adults in the galls “ready to emerge” [?] at Wetmore on October 6. Gillette cut live and active females from the galls of the type material on October 31. Weld cut a live adult out of a gall on November 9 (1917); and specimens in the U. S. National Museum (Hopkins coll.) were bred October 31, November 15, November 20 (1918) and January 10. I have seven adults from east of Raton which were bred on November 20 (1927).

I agree with Weld that my pellucidus is the same as Gillette’s brevipennata. The two insects came from probably identical localities, the Garden of the Gods, midway between Manitou and Colorado Springs. A direct comparison of types shows them to agree, even tho brevipennata has always figured in the genus Disholcaspis where it should never have been placed, while I placed pellucidus in the meaningless assemblage called Andricus pending the present revision of Cynips. My 1920 description of pellucidus contained numerous inaccuracies which must give way to the present re-descriptions of the insects.

Considering our present difficulty in separating galls of the species bella and dugesi, much less of the several varieties of each species, records for brevipennata based on galls alone are of little value.

Holcaspis brevipennata Gillette

Gall. (Plate IX, Figs. 4. 5.) Attached singly to the under side and always near the margin of the leaves of oak (Quercus undulata). Globular thin shelled; straw color more or less stained with rusty brown. The central cell is held in place by a rather abundant growth of fine radiating fibres, more or less branched toward their outer ends. Diameter 11 to 18 mm.

Habitat. Manitou, Colorado. (Gillette.)

The gall somewhat resembles that of Dryophanta polita, but is more fragile and thin shelled. The wings of the adult extend slightly beyond the abdomen. The parapsidal grooves are continuous and the anterior part of parallel lines are wanting.

The types of the adults and galls are with Prof. C. P. Gillette and in The American Museum of Natural History.