Cynips (plumbea) fuscipennis, new species
agamic form

GALL.-Large, spherical, rarely flattened, almost always drawn out to a conical point basally; dull, slightly shriveling, with a conspicuous and heavy scurf which is quite persistent so old galls are often blue gray; de nuded surface light tan to (less often) dark purplish brown; up to 11.0 mm., averaging over 8.0 mm. in diameter. Figure 116.

HOSTS.—Q. nudinervis, Q. conglomerata, Q. texcocana, Q. rhodophlebia, Q. convallata. Apparently on all white oaks of the region except Alpine dwarfs and oaks of macrophylla group

RANGE.-Morelos: Cuernavaca, 8 N, 8700' (Q. teaccocana; galls on Q. conglomerata). Guerrero: Taxco, 8 NE, 8000' (Q. mudimervis, types). Michoacán: Morelia, 14 E, 7000' (Q. conglomerata). Jalisco: Sayula, 13 SW, 7700' (Q. rhodophlebia, Q. convallata). Probably occurring over a wide area west and southwest of the mountains which rim the Valley of Mexico, from Morelos to Southern Jalisco and Eastern Guerrero. Figure 102.

LIFE HISTORY.—Adults: February 20. March 2, 3, 12, 15, 22, 29. April 5. Most of the emergence late in March.

The main road between Mexico City and Cuernavaca climbs Over a mountain pass at 10,200 feet. Although black oaks occur at the highest elevation, white oaks fail to reach the divide, and C. texcocana, occurring on the eastward face of the mountains, looking into the Valley of Mexico, seems effectually isolated from C. fuscipennis which occurs on the westward slopes of that same mountain ridge. Fuscipennis then ranges more than 300 miles to the west, over a very much dissected mountain country with arid, tropic valleys in it. The species extends even to the south ern end of the state of Jalisco. In the same area, C. hirsuta is a segregate of the same complex, but it occurs on the alpine dwarf oak, Q. repanda ; and C. subcostalis and C. scutata are segregates on the Q. macrophylla group of oaks.

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