Belonocnema treatae

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Belonocnema treatae
Belonocnema treatae galls.jpg
Asexual galls of Belonocnema treatae
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Cynipidae
Genus: Belonocnema
Species:
B. treatae
Binomial name
Belonocnema treatae
Ashmead, 1881
Synonyms
  • Dryorhizoxenus floridanusAshmead, 1881

Belonocnema treatae is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus virginiana and very rarely Querucs geminata. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the underside of leaves whereas the sexual generation form galls on the roots. It can be found in the United States, where it is known from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina. [1] It, along with the other described Belonocnema species, have been used to study speciation. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy and phylogenetics

Belonocnema treatae was first described in 1881 by Gustav Leopold Mayr on the basis of sexual generation adults collected by noted naturalist Mary Treat. She collected the galls in Green Clove Spring, Florida, from root galls growing on Quercus virginiana. [1] Due to a printing error, the genus first appeared as Belenocnema until it was subsequently corrected. [3]

Later that same year, William Harris Ashmead described individuals from the same galls as Dryorhizoxenus floridanus, but later synonymized this name under Mayr's B. treatae in 1886. [1]

Genetic data places B. treatae as sister to B. fossoria . [1]

Description

The asexual generation galls are smooth, unilocular balls that appear on the ventral side of leaves. Young galls are orange or light brown and darken as they age. The sexual generation galls are irregular shaped, multilocular clusters of galls appearing on small rootlets. [1]

Belonocnema treatae can be distinguished from B. fossoria by the spur on the anterior side of fore tibia being shorter than the basitarsus and tibial spurs in both generations. It can be separated from B. kinseyi in the sexual generation by weakly delimited scutellar foveae separated broadly by a ridge and a distinctive areolet in the asexual generation. [1]

Distribution and biology

The distribution of Belonocnema treatae generally follows that of its main host plant, Quercus virginiana. However, a species turnover occurs in southeast Mississippi, where B. kinseyi replaces B. treatae for the remaining western range of Q. virginiana. [1]

Sexual-generation adults emerge from mid-March to end of April, corresponding with the timing of the leaf flush of Q. virginiana. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynipini</span> Tribe of wasps

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<i>Andricus quercuscalifornicus</i> Species of wasp

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<i>Trichagalma formosana</i> Species of wasp

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<i>Belonocnema</i> Genus of wasps

Belonocnema is a genus of oak gall wasps in the family Cynipidae, found in the United States from Texas, east to Florida. All species induce galls on section Virentes oaks and have both sexual and asexual generations. The asexual generation galls form as small balls on the underside of leaves, and the sexual galls form on roots. A number of inquiline, parasitoid, and hyperparasitoid wasp species have been reared from Belonocnema galls.

Synergus japonicus is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Whereas most gall wasps create the galls in which they live, Synergus japonicus is an inquiline species, living in the gall created by another species of wasp. It is native to Japan, China and Russia.

<i>Andricus quercuspetiolicola</i> Species of wasp

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<i>Disholcaspis quercusmamma</i> Species of wasp

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<i>Acraspis quercushirta</i> Species of wasp

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<i>Druon quercuslanigerum</i> Species of gall wasp

Druon quercuslanigerum is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus virginiana, Quercus geminata, Quercus fusiformis, and Quercus oleoides. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the leaves whereas the sexual generation forms galls on the catkins. It can be found in the southern United States and Mexico. Predators of this species include the green parakeet.

Andricus hispanicus is a parthenogenetic species of wasp which causes the formation of marble galls on oak trees. The galls caused by the agamous generation are similar to the closely related Andricus kollari.

Neuroterus valhalla is a species of gall wasp from North America that forms galls on the Southern Live Oak. It was first discovered on the campus of Rice University.

<i>Belonocnema kinseyi</i> Species of gall wasp

Belonocnema kinseyi is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus virginiana and Quercus fusiformis. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the underside of leaves whereas the sexual generation form galls on the roots. It can be found in the United States, where it is known from Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. It, along with the other described Belonocnema species, have been used to study speciation.

<i>Belonocnema fossoria</i> Species of gall wasp

Belonocnema fossoria is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus geminata. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the underside of leaves whereas the sexual generation form galls on the roots. It can be found in the United States, where it is known from Georgia and Florida. It, along with the other described Belonocnema species, have been used to study speciation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zhang, Y Miles; Egan, Scott P; Driscoe, Amanda L; Ott, James R (2021-02-27). "One hundred and sixty years of taxonomic confusion resolved:Belonocnema(Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) gall wasps associated with live oaks in the USA". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 193 (4): 1234–1255. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab001. ISSN   0024-4082.
  2. Zhang, Linyi; Hood, Glen Ray; Ott, James R; Egan, Scott P (2024-01-06). "The role of divergent host use and geography in the evolution of habitat isolation and sexual isolation among sister species of Belonocnema gall wasps". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 37 (2): 248–255. doi:10.1093/jeb/voae005. ISSN   1420-9101.
  3. Melika, G.; Bechtold, M. (2001). "Taxonomic notes and type designations of gall inducing cynipid wasps described by G. Mayr (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie B für Botanik und Zoologie. 103: 327–339. ISSN   0255-0105.