Synergus colombianus, Nieves-Aldrey, 2005

Lobato-Vila, Irene, Caicedo, Guadalupe, Rodríguez, Pedro A. & Pujade-Villar, Juli, 2020, The inquiline oak gall wasp (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) fauna from Colombia: new data and species, The Canadian Entomologist 152 (2), pp. 131-144 : 133-136

SynerguS colombianuS Nieves-Aldrey, 2005

Figures 1–3 .

Synergus colombianus Nieves-Aldrey, 2005: 501–508 . Type material: IAVH (holotype), paratypes in IAVH and MNCN [examined by I.L. -V. and J.P. -V. in Lobato-Vila et al. (2018)].

Material examined. 5♂ and 19♀. New additional material from Colombia deposited in UB with the following collecting data: Via Arauco-La Palma ( Arcabuco , Boyacá), 5°44 0 17 00 N, 73°24 0 52 00 W, 2578 m, ex. Zapatella grahami Pujade-Villar and Melika, 2012 , Q. humboldtii , gall collected 8.iv.2019, emerged iv.2019, J. Pujade-Villar : 5♂ and 16♀; same collecting data, but emerged 1–15.v.2019: 3♀.

Diagnosis. Synergus colombianus is characterised by having antennae with 14 flagellomeres in females and 15 flagellomeres in males; flagellomere 1 about as long as flagellomere 2 ( Figs. 1, 3 ); flagellomere 1 of males excavate medially and moderately to strongly expanded apically ( Fig. 3 ); face from round to subtrapezoid-shaped and with genae slightly expanded behind compound

eyes; frons weakly wrinkled and punctate; frontal carinae narrow, somewhat branched distally and obscured by wrinkles before reaching lateral ocelli; mesoscutum with dense but weak discontinuous carinae; notauli shallow and narrow but complete, sometimes interrupted by carinae; scutellum from weakly carinate to wrinkled; scutellar foveae subtriangular to oval, shallow, weakly sculptured; circumscutellar carina weak but visible; mesopleurae regularly and densely striate; metasoma deeply dorsodistally incised and posteriorly with a band of minute micropunctures occupying from 1/4 to 1/3 of the metasomal length; radial cell closed, about 2.8 times as long as wide ( Figs. 1–2 ); body mainly black and orange or amber, face and legs yellow except basal half of metacoxae, which is black, and tarsi, which are dark ( Figs. 1–2 ).

Synergus colombianus is morphologically close to Synergus dawnus Lobato-Vila and Pujade-Villar new species (see below), from which can be distinguished by having basal half of metacoxae black ( Figs. 1–2 ) (metacoxae yellow, rarely with a small, dark spot, in S. dawnus , Figs. 4–5 ); the malar space 0.4 times as long as height of compound eye (0.6 times in S. dawnus , Fig. 7 ); frons weakly wrinkled (coriaceous, rarely with a few very weak wrinkles, in S. dawnus , Figs. 7–8 ); areolet small or absent ( Figs. 1–2 ) (visible, however, it is not well delimited by distinct veins, in S. dawnus , Figs. 4–5 , 12 ); flagellomere 1 of males from moderately to strongly expanded apically ( Fig. 3 ) (slightly expanded apically in S. dawnus , Fig. 6 ), among others (see the identification key).

Natural history. Synergus colombianus was described from specimens that emerged from an unidentified cynipid gall on acorns of Q. humboldtii ( Nieves-Aldrey 2005) . The additional material presented here was obtained from acorn galls of Zapatella grahami Pujade-Villar and Melika, 2012 , which may correspond to the species mentioned by Nieves-Aldrey.

Distribution. Colombia. Boyacá department, above 2500 m ( Nieves-Aldrey 2005; and in this work, see the additional material).

Figures

Figs. 1–3. Synergus colombianus (new material from Colombia). 1, Female habitus; 2, male habitus; 3, first male flagellomeres.

Figs. 4–6. Synergus dawnus. 4, Female habitus; 5, male habitus; 6, first male flagellomeres.

Figs. 7–16. Synergus dawnus. 7, Head in anterior view; 8, head in dorsal view; 9, female antenna; 10, tarsal claw; 11, propodeum; 12, radial cell; 13, mesosoma in lateral view; 14, mesosoma in dorsal view; 15, metasoma in lateral view; 16, metasoma in dorsal view.