Xyela sibiricae Blank & Shinohara & Altenhofer 2013, sp. nov.

Xyela sibiricae Blank, sp. nov.

Type locality: Russia, Irkutskaya Oblast, Shelekhovskiy Rayon, Bolshaya Glubokaya.

Xyela kamtshatica: Zombori 1971: 233 (misidentification); Zhelochovtsev & Zinovjev 1995: 396 (partly misidentified).

Xyela spec. nov. cf. kamtschatica: Verzhutskij 1981: 38.

Description. Female. Color. Head yellow with black pattern: two black stripes along supraantennal furrows ca 2 times wider than ocellar diameter, meeting black ocellar and postocellar area, black longitudinal spot in middle of frons always present and surrounded by yellow, kidney-shaped spots on vertex separate from black postocellar area (Fig. 36). Antennae brown, a little paler below. Thorax dorsally brown with extensive yellow pattern on pronotum, mesonotal lobes and mesoscutellum, mesepisternum and tegulae. Abdominal terga dark brown, lateral parts of terga 8 and 9+10 sometimes paler, valvifer 2 pale basally and dark brown distally, membrane between valvifer 2 and valvula 3 white, valvula 3 black with small pale ventral margin up to distal fifth (Fig.101). Legs pale brown, femora partly with longitudinal dark stripes, posterior coxae dark brown with distal 0.3–0.5 of ventral side pale. Wing membrane brownish infuscate, venation and pterostigma brown.

Morphology. Fore wing 4.8–4.9 mm long, 1.75–190 times longer than ovipositor sheath, vein Rs+M 100–200 µm long, 2r-m meeting Rs proximal to furcation of Rs1 and Rs2. Synantennomere 3 800–890 µm long, antennomere 4 210–250 µm long and 5.5–7.5 times longer than wide distally. Article 3 of maxillary palp 530–550 µm long, 1.45–1.50 times longer than scape and distinctly wider than synantennomere 3. OOL: POL = 1.60–1.85: 1. Ovipositor sheath 2.55–2.80 mm long, valvula 3 2.00–2.10 times longer than valvifer 2 and 9.0–9.5 times longer than wide at base (Fig.101). Valvula 3 of ovipositor sheath wedge-shaped, in distal third diamond-shaped in cross section, pale membranous area distally extending up to preapical region as small ventral pale margin of valvula 3, valvula 3 distally narrowing to small round tip, distally with sensilla field present and directed laterad, bearing ca 7 sensilla. Ovipositor indistinctly bent downwards. Valvula 1 of ovipositor compressed and slightly wedge-shaped, distal 0.05 narrowed to sclerotized tip bearing 4 serrulae and 6 annuli (4 of them vertical), ventral edge sloping up to tip, aulax terminating distally, olistether with 8 setae. Valvula 2 pale and evenly sclerotized, distal 0.05 tapering to sclerotized tip, in distal half with small sclerotization surrounding groups of 1–5(–8) sensilla campaniformia, dorsal margin of valvula 2 smooth. Posterior tibia 1.00– 1.20 mm long, all claws with delicate subapical tooth.

Male. Color. Similar to female (see Fig. 37 for color pattern of head). Antennae usually pale brown. Hypopygium brown to dark brown.

Morphology. Fore wing 4.0– 4.1 mm long, Rs+M 130–200 µm long, 2r-m meeting Rs proximal to furcation of Rs1 and Rs2. Synantennomere 3 790–900 µm long, antennomere 4 240–300 µm long and 7.0–8.0 times longer than wide distally. Article 3 of maxillary palp 440–490 µm long, 1.30–1.40 times longer than scape and distinctly wider than synantennomere 3. OOL: POL = 1.60–1.85: 1. Longitudinal apodeme of basiparamere curved, basal portion in lateral position, harpe about as long as wide in lateral view. Medial lobe of valviceps 1.45–1.50 times longer than wide, lateral lamella vertical with proximal and distal edge s-shaped, proximal lobe of penis valve 0.14–0.15 times as long as valviceps and ca 0.95 times as high as medial lobe, excision on lower edge 0.16–0.17 as deep as width of medial lobe, medial lobe of valviceps 1.50–1.55 times wider than distal lobe, 2 distal flagella present, tip of longer flagellum reaching 0.75–0.80 width of distal lobe (Fig. 133). Valviceps with median longitudinal sclerotization absent, medial lobe broad and slightly truncate on upper edge, with dense group of ca 15 cone-like sensilla along upper edge, upper edge between medial and distal lobe with dense pattern of setae. Posterior tibia 1.05–1.15 mm long, all claws with delicate subapical tooth.

Type material. Holotype ♂: [in Cyrillic:] “Irkutsk.[aya] obl.[ast], Shelekhovski r-n [= rayon], D. B. Glubokaya [= Bol’shaya Glubokaya], s Pinus sibirica pri okolote [= beaten from Pinus sibirica], B. Verzhutskij, 26.V. [19]69”; [red:] “Holotypus ♂ Xyela sibiricae spec. nov. det. S. M. Blank 2001”. ZMUM. Paratypes: 3♀ 4♂, DEI, HNHM, ZMUM.

Etymology. The species is named after the strongly suspected host plant, Pinus sibirica.

Host plant. Ο Pinus sibirica Mayr. (“ Xyela sp. n. cf. kamtschatica Gussakovskij ” of Verzhutskij 1981).

Biology. Verzhutskij (1981) reported the imagines to be rather common in the Baikal region. They are active from May to June. One male we studied was collected in the beginning of April. The larvae can be found from June to July. Some of the studied imagines are densely covered with ca 25 µm large pollen grains. Pollen analysis showed that these large tricolpate grains pertain to a non-coniferous plant species (Faegri & Iversen 1993). The Mongolian females were collected in the clearing of a wood with conifers and birches (Kaszab 1968).

Geographic distribution. Mongolia, Russia (Irkutskaya Oblast) (Fig. 9). Besides the material we studied from Bolshaya Glubokaya, Verzhutskij (1981) mentioned additional records of “ Xyela spec. nov. cf. kamtschatica ” from Chunoyar (Krasnoyarskiy Kray) and from Bolshiye Koty (Baikal Region).

Remarks. Compared with the length of the fore wing, Xyela sibiricae has the longest ovipositor among representatives of the alpigena group. The relative length of the proximal lobe of the valviceps is shorter than in other species.

The sexes have been associated with the help of material Verzhutskij collected in Glubokaya. According to their labeling, all but one specimen of this series were collected on Pinus sibirica (see Verzhutskij 1981 under the provisional naming “ Xyela sp. n. cf. kamtschatica Gussakovskij ”), which presumably is the host plant. The Mongolian record also fits the distribution range of P. sibirica. Pinus sibirica has been ranked as a subspecies of the European P. cembra by Kindel (1995), but it usually is now accredited species status (Richardson 1998). Its range covers a vast area of northern Asia and extends through Russia west to 50° crossing the Ural Mountains to Europe (Mirov 1967, Willis et al. 1998), where an occurrence of X. sibiricae might be expected.