Cynips (dugèsi) pictor, new species
agamic form

GALL.-Similar to all galls of the C. bella and C. dugès i complexes. Mature galls rather rich reddish or brownish tan, lightly but in most cases distinctly spotted; not shining; moderately small, up to 17. mm., averaging nearer 12. mm. in diameter.

HOSTS.—Quercus cordifolia [striatula], Q. Pringlei. At the type locality (Miqui huana, 25 NW, Tams.) the first is the very dwarf scrub oak at the highest elevations (8600' or more); and the second is the head-high or taller shrub covering the slopes (7500' to 8500').

RANGE.--Tamaulipas: Miquihuana, 25 NW, 8500'. Probably extending northward, from west of Miquihuana, on the west ern slopes of the range of the Eastern Sierra which marks the southern portion of the boundary between Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. Replaced by C. oriens on the eastern slopes of the same range (nearer and east of Miquihuana). Figure 18.

LIFE HISTORY..—Adults: November 26. December 6, 7, 14. January 1, 2, 8, 9, 16, 17, 23. February 16. Most of the emergence between Decem ber 6 and January 2.

In the remote and inaccessible area which forms the very high mountain boundary between the southern extensions of the states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, the present species, Cynips pictor, accounts for the oak apples on the western slopes of the Divide west of the town of Miquihuana. Directly east of the Divide, with its elevation of around 9,000 feet, it is C. oriens which represents this complex; and in an isolated canyon a little further east (22 miles north of Tula), C. vasta is the species producing similar oak apples. Our material of pictor comes from a single locality which is between the lumber station and mill of the hacienda known as “Aceradera”; but the range continues northward for some distance, past Soledad and west of Galeana, and pictor may extend for a hundred miles over the western slopes of this very high and inaccessible range. There seems no constant distinction between the material from the very low, alpine scrub, Q. cordifolia, and the taller shrub of the slopes, Q. Pringlei.

This insect is one of the Eastern Sierran, short-winged group of species which includes C. pumilio, C. pulex, and C. pusa. Pictor is the most northern member of the group. From pumilio, which occurs in Southern Hidalgo, pictor is further to be distinguished by having a gall which is distinctly even if lightly spotted. Pictor, puler, and pusa are nearer the same color and are similarly hairy on the thorax, but pictor is dis tinguishable by its peculiar venation and spotted galls.

Cynips (dugèsi) pulex, new species
agamic form

GALL.-Similar to all galls of the C. bella and C. dugès i complexes. Mature galls light yellow tan, unspotted; rather small, up to 14. mm., aver aging near 12. mm. in diameter. Figure 65.

HOSTS.—Quercus macrophylla, Q. potosina.

RANGE.-San Luis Potosí: Rio Verde, 14 W, 6500' (Q. macrophylla, types. Also on Q. polymorpha and Q. potosina). Not occurring to the north or west of the known locality; possibly occurring further east or south; possibly limited to the mountains west of Rio Verde. Figure 18.

LIFE HISTORY.—Adults: Early spring, before March 2

The type localities of pulex (from Rio Verde, in the state of San Luis Potosí) and of pusa (from Jacala, in Northern Hidalgo) are nearly a hundred miles apart, and it is nearer 125 miles to the type locality of pictor to the north (in Southwestern Tamaulipas). It is not impossible that additional species of the same group may occur in the largely impassable mountain areas that lie between Rio Verde and the nearest localities for these other species.

The type locality of pulex is only 35 miles from the type locality of the longer-winged species oriens (from Cerritos, also in San Luis Potosí); but the affinities of pulex are entirely with pictor, pusa, and pumilio, and not with oriens. Pulea is represented in our collections from the low trees, Q. macrophylla, the large tree, Q. polymorpha, and from the quite unrelated scrub oak, Q. potosina.

No species of the C. bella complex occurs near the area in which C. pulex is found.

Cynips (dugèsi) pusa, new species
agamic form

GALL-Similar to all galls of the C. bella and C. dugèsi complexes. Mature galls light olive tan, sometimes browner, but not rosy; unspotted; medium in size, up to 16. mm., averaging 13. mm. in diameter.

HOST.-Quercus repanda var., the lowest dwarf oak encountered along the Laredo-Mexico City highway east and west of Jacala.

RANGE.-Hidalgo: Jacala, 7 NE, 5000'. Jacala, 24 SW, 6800". Probably restricted to a portion of the Eastern Sierra in the northern end of the state of Hidalgo. Figure 18

LIFE HISTORY..—Adults: December 10, 14. January 1

This short-winged insect forms the common oak apples on the low-tufted dwarf oaks that are to be found both northeast and southwest of the town of Jacala, in the high mountain mass negotiated by the new Laredo-Mexico City highway. This is the main range of the Eastern Sierra, and so continuous that the species may spread for a good many miles. Its closest relative is C. pulex, found in an isolated range west of Rio Verde—nearly a hundred miles by airline from the type locality of pusa. Pulex: and pusa are clearly in the same evolutionary line as pumilio, which is found on Q. repanda, a close relative of the host of pusa, in the mountains at the southern end of the state of Hidalgo. The known localities for pusa and pumilio are still 50 miles apart. The intervening mountain mass is largely inaccessible, for it is avoided by the built highways, and the cynipid fauna between the recorded localities for the two species remains unknown and unpredictable.

The galls of pusa are distinctly olive, instead of rosy tan as in pumilio or yellow tan as in pulex.

Cynips (dugèsi) pumilio, new species
agamic form

GALL.—Similar to all galls of the C. bella and C. dugès i complexes. Mature galls light rosy tan, unspotted; always smooth and shining, large, up to 25. mm., averaging nearer 18. mm. in diameter. Figure 59.

HOST.-Quercus repanda, a low, alpine dwarf oak. Not on the taller oaks of the same area.

RANGE.-Hidalgo: Pachuca, 7 N, 8700'. Mexico: Mexico City, 32 E, 10,600'. Mexico City, 12 W, 8500'. Mexico City, 20 S, 9400' (galls only). Puebla: El Seco, 5 SW, 8200' (gall). Michoacán: Morelia, 14 E, 7000'. Probably wherever the alpine dwarf, Q. repanda, occurs. The recorded range, from Morelia to Pachuca and the mountains of Puebla represents the known range of the oak, but it may occur more widely, especially east and north. Figure 18

LIFE HISTORY..—Adults: January 12, 15, 25. February 2. March 7, 17, 25. Most of the emergence in March.

This is the short-winged producer of the oak apples on the dwarf oaks of the Mexican Cordillera, from Morelia to Pachuca and the mountains of Puebla. It may occur still further north and east. On the taller oaks in the mountains rimming the Valley of Mexico, in galls which may hang square over the car pet of dwarf oaks which bear Cynips pumilio, there is a long winged member of the dugèsi complex, namely Cynips longa. The galls of the two are nearly identical and one, gathering them without separating the material from the two hosts, might be surprised to find the longest-winged species in the complex, and the smallest-known dwarf in the complex coming from the one collection. It must convince one that the long-winged and short-winged species are relatives, and demonstrate the significance of mutation and isolation in the origin of species.

Pumilio is one of a group of short-winged species which also includes pictor, pusa, and pulex—all of them found in the East ern Sierra of Mexico. Geographically the species comes nearest C. pusa, pumilio being recorded from the southern end of the state of Hidalgo, while pusa is found in the northern end of the same state. Both insects occur on the same, very dwarf oak, Q. repanda, or species of that complex of oaks. The main highway connecting the two ends of the state of Hidalgo largely avoids the oak-inhabited mountain area, so we do not know whether any other species of this short-winged group occur between the ranges of pumilio and pusa.

No species of the C. bella complex occurs near the range of C. pumilio.

- Alfred Kinsey: (1936) Origin of higher categories in Cynips^©