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Siricidae (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Siricoidea) of the Western Hemisphere
CJAI 21, July, 2012
doi: 10.3752/cjai.2012.21
Nathan M. Schiff, Henri Goulet, David R. Smith, Caroline Boudreault, A. Dan Wilson, and Brian E. Scheffler

Teredon cubensis (Cresson)

Fig. C34.1 (female lateral habitus)
Fig. C35.1 (female dorsal habitus)
Fig. C35.2 (male dorsal habitus)
Fig. C32.3 (map)

Tremex cubensis Cresson, 1865a: 2. Holotype female (ANSP), examined by DRS. Cresson 1916: 10. Type locality: Cuba.
Tremex latitarsus Cresson, 1865a: 3. Holotype male (ANSP), examined by DRS and HG. Cresson 1916: 10. Synonymy by Konow 1898: 83, 90. Type locality: Cuba.
Teredon cubensis; Norton, 1869: 366. Dalla Torre, 1894: 380 (change in combination); Bradley 1913 : 27, Pl. 4, Fig. 13, Hedicke 1938: 31, Smith 1969: 543, Smith 1978: 92.
Teredon latitarsus; Norton, 1869: 367. Dalla Torre, 1894: 380 (change in combination); Bradley 1913: 27, Pl. 4, Figs. 10, 12, Hedicke 1938: 31, Smith 1969: 543, Smith 1978: 92.
Teredonia cubensis; Kirby, 1882: 386 (unnecessary combination, see Teredonia, above). Konow, 1905a: 9, Konow, 1905b: 124 (misspelling as Treodonia).
Teredonia latitarsus; Kirby, 1882: 386 (unnecessary combination, see Teredonia, above).


Diagnostic Combination

The single species of Teredon, T. cubensis, is diagnosed under the genus. Both sexes have metatarsomere 1 extremely compressed laterally and fewer than 9 antennomeres.

Description

FEMALE

Body. Pubescence short on abdomen, moderately short on frons, vertex and nota, and long on occiput and lateral surface of head and thorax.

Color. Head, palps and antenna reddish brown. Median half and posterolateral areas of mesoscutum, mesoscutellum (Fig. C35.1), and pro- and mesofemur reddish brown. Propleuron, pronotum ventrolaterally (Fig. C34.1), most of mesonotum except medially and posterolaterally (Fig. C35.1), mesopleuron except upper 0.7 (Fig. C34.1), metanotum except central part of scutum and scutellum (Fig. 35.1), metepisternum and ventral section of metepimeron, coxae, and most of metafemur (Fig. C34.1) black or brown. Tergum 1 at extreme apex, terga 2 and 3 in apical 0.4 and most of side, tergum 4 in apical 0.2 and widely at side, terga 5–7 in apical 0.7, tergum 8 in apical 0.5–0.6, tergum 9 basolaterally, extreme base of sheath, and sterna 2–7 in posterolateral area (Figs. C34.1 & C35.1) black or brown.

Head. Flagellomeres clearly constricted at base, and each of middle flagellomeres about 2.7 times as long as minimum width (Fig. C35.3). Capsule with most pits adjacent, most pits large (diameter of pit about 0.3 times lateral ocellus diameter) on vertex, and very large behind eye on gena (diameter of pits about 0.5 times lateral ocellus diameter), and surface between pits smooth. Microsculpture generally lacking, or meshes shallow and sculpticells slightly convex.

Thorax. Pronotum with medium teeth over dorsal surface and quite finely pitted laterally (diameter of pits about 0.15 times lateral ocellus diameter) and smooth between pits (Fig. C35.4). Mesoscutum with net-like pits over median area, and quite finely pitted in lateral 0.3 (Fig. C35.4). Meso- and metepisternum with moderately fine (upper half) to fine pits, and pits 0.5–1.5 pit diameter apart.

Abdomen. Median basin at base (length between two lateral impressions) about 0.7 times as wide as median length (Fig. B1.22). Tergum 10 in dorsal view about 0.6 times as long as median length of median basin (Fig. B1.22). Terga with shallow and fine pits, pits on terga 1–8 restricted laterally and present on most of tergum 9 except dorsomedially. Tergum 10 with teeth over most of surface (teeth largest laterally in dorsal view). Sterna 2–7 with shallow and fine pits in lateral half. Microsculpture of terga 2–8 with pitted sculpticells in posterior 0.5 of each tergum, and extending laterally to level of dorsal margin of spiracle; terga 1, 2–8 laterally, 9 (including median basin) and 10 with isodiametric meshes and sculpticells slightly convex or scale-like. Sheath. Apical section about 0.13 times as long as that of fore wing. Ovipositor. Lancet with 17 annuli outlined to base; annuli 6–14 with bisinuate edge, with a tooth above and below on annulus edge, and with a deep furrow between (Fig. C34.7). Annuli 1–14 with pits; annuli 4–5 with narrow and broad pit (about 0.5 width of lancet), annuli 6–14 with small pit associated with ventral tooth, annuli 6 and 7 with very small pit associated with dorsal tooth, and both pits fused on annuli 2–5; pits from annulus 5 becoming small toward annulus 2; ventral edge of annuli 13–14 with ridge extended to ventral edge of lancet, on annuli 6–12 ridge present but not extending to ventral edge of lancet (Fig. C35.5); annuli 2–5 without ridge ventral to pit.

MALE

Color. Head black or brownish black with dark blue metallic reflections (surface behind head and posterior half of gena brown) (Fig. C35.2). Mesothorax, coxae, femora, metatibia, metatarsus 1 and tergum 2 medially as narrow longitudinal band and posteriorly as narrow transverse band black or dark brown with dark blue metallic reflections, pronotum dorsally except medially, middle of scutellum, central area on both sides of mesoscutum brown (Fig. C35.2); antenna, pro- and mesotibiae and tarsi brown (Fig. C1.8). Wings clear but darkened near stigma and in apical 0.25 (Fig. C34.5). Abdomen reddish brown except for black spot on tergum 2 (Fig. C35.2).

Head. Antenna with only 3 or 4 flagellomeres (Fig. C34.3). Flagellomere 1 about 0.5 times as long as length of 2 (Fig. C34.3). Maximum height of eye 1.3 times as long as minimum distance between eyes (Fig. C34.2); distance between inner edges of lateral ocelli 2.3 times as long as minimum distance from outer edge of lateral ocellus to nearest edge of eye (Fig. C34.2); eye high but very wide, thus 1.6 times as high as long (thus gena about 0.4 times as long as eye length) (Fig. C34.3). Vertex with pits about 0.3 times as large as diameter of lateral ocellus and dense (Fig. C35.6), and gena with pits about 0.5 as large as diameter of lateral ocellus and dense  (Fig. C34.3). Distance between inner edges of antennal sockets about 10 times distance from outer edge of antennal socket to nearest edge of eye (Fig. C34.2).

Thorax. Mesoscutum coarsely pitted (pits about 0.3 times of lateral ocellus diameter) in median half, but fine in lateral half (pits 0.1–0.2 times of lateral ocellus diameter). Metatibia and metatarsomere 1 laterally compressed and lobed at apex; metatibia 3.0 times as long as wide; metatarsomere 1 in lateral view (with lobe) 2.8 times as long as high; metatarsomere 1 1.3 times as high as maximum width of metatibia, and maximum length (excluding lobe) 0.9 times as long as metatibial length (Fig. C1.8). Fore wing with vein Rs between veins 1r and M clearly sinuate (Fig. C34.5).

Taxonomic Notes

The male is unusual in two features. The eye is very large, as high as in the female but remarkably longer. Eye length affects gena width, so the gena is narrow. The hind wing anal cell is complete in the only male studied. In the female, hind wing vein 2A is much longer than in other genera [Sirex, Sirotremex, Urocerus, and Xoanon] with an open anal cell. Because of the unusual variability of wing veins in Siricidae, we do not know how significant this closed cell is in the male. The male and female are very different in color pattern, as in most species of Siricidae. The hind leg of the male is remarkable, but is similar to the hind leg differences one would expect to see between the sexes of other Siricidae. In other features (except for flagellomere number and the hind wing anal cell development), the male matches the female. Therefore, we agree with Konow (1898) and consider T. latitarsus as a synonym of T. cubensis.

Hosts and Phenology

The host is unknown. The single adult with a capture date was on March 31.

Range

CUBA: La Habana Province. Teredon cubensis is known only from Cuba (Fig. C32.3) and has very rarely been collected.

Specimens studied and included for the distribution map: 2 females and 1 male from ANSP and IES.