Gonatocerus (Gonatocerus) californicus Girault, 1911

(Figs 22–24)

Gonatocerus californicus Girault 1911: 271 –272. Holotype female [USNM] (not examined). Type locality: Siskiyou Co., California, USA.

Lymaenon californicus (Girault): Burks 1958: 63 (catalog) [not listed but a new combination proposed referring to the previous listing in Peck (1951)]; Peck 1963: 22 (catalog).

Gonatocerus californicus Girault: Huber 1988: 35 –37 (assigned to sulphuripes species group, diagnosis, redescription, distribution: mentioned from Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands); Yoshimoto 1990: 39 (list, sulphuripes species group); De Santis & Fidalgo 1994: 125 (catalog); Huber & Beardsley 2000: 56 (records from the Hawaiian Islands).

Material examined. ARGENTINA. BUENOS AIRES: Luján, Universidad Nacional de Luján, 34°35'07"S 59°04'45"W, 32 m, 17.iii.2005, C. Coviella [1 ♀, UCRC]. Moreno, 34°08’57’’S 58°46’57’’W, C. Coviella: 4– 14.i.2005 [1 ♀, UCRC]; 16.ii.2005 [2 ♀, UCRC]; 23.iii.2005 [2 ♀, UCRC]; 9.iv.2005 [2 ♀, UCRC]; 17.iv.2005 [1 ♀, UCRC]; 30.v.2005 [1 ♀, UCRC]. Near Ingeniero Otamendi, Río Paraná de las Palmas bank, 34°10’52.7’’S 58°52’12.8’’W, 6 m, 23.i.2003, S. V. Triapitsyn, M.C. Hernández [1 ♀, UCRC]. Near Puente Zárate over Río Paraná, 33°54’53.9’’S 58°53’46.4’’W, 7 m, 21.ii.2009, D.A. Aquino, A.V. Ossipov, S.V. Triapitsyn [1 ♀, UCRC]. Tigre: 34°23’50’’S 58°34’32’’W, 5 m, G.A. Logarzo: 9–16.xi.2005 [1 ♀, UCRC]; 23– 28.xi.2005 [1 ♀, UCRC]; 27.xii.2005 – 3.i.2006 [4 ♀, UCRC]; 3–10.i.2006 [3 ♀, UCRC]. Vieytes, 35°18’26.56’’S 57°34’02.99’’W, 16 m, 29.ii.2008, D.A. Aquino [9 ♀, MLPA]. CATAMARCA: Palo Labrado (23 km S of La Merced), 28°20’S 65°37’W, 734 m, M.E. Irwin, F.D. Parker [1 ♀, UCDC]. Near San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, 18.i.2003, S.V. Triapitsyn [2 ♀, UCRC]. FORMOSA, 26.27°S 58.27°W, 60 m, 26.iii.2003, J. Munro [8 ♀, 2 ♂, UCRC]. MENDOZA, La Consulta, 33°42’30’’S 69°04’21’’W, INTA – Estación Experimental Agropecuaria La Consulta, 12–16.iii.2007, S. Lanati [2 ♀, UCRC]. MISIONES, Loreto, 27°20’09.0’’S 55°31’36.1’’W, 171 m, 16.ii.2009, D.A. Aquino, A.V. Ossipov, S.V. Triapitsyn [1 ♀, UCRC].

SALTA, San Ramón de la Nueva Orán, 23.09°S 63.37°W, 399 m, 22.iii.2003, J. Munro [1 ♀, UCRC]. TUCU- MÁN: Las Mesadas, 27°05’33.1’’S 65°37’43.3’’W, 600 m, 19.i.2003, S.V. Triapitsyn, G.A. Logarzo [1 ♀, UCRC]. San Miguel de Tucumán, soccer field near PROIMI, 26°48’35.6’’S 65°14’24.6’’W, 500 m, 20.i.2003, S.V. Triapitsyn, E.G. Virla [12 ♀, 11 ♂, UCRC]. 39 km N of San Miguel de Tucumán, 29.xi–4.xii.1999, L. Williams, III, G.A. Logarzo [2 ♀, CNCI]. COLOMBIA. CHOCÓ, Parque Nacional Natural Utría, Sendero Cocolito, 6.02°N 77.35°W, 1–4.vii.2000, Colombian Arthropod Project [1 ♀, UCRC]. MEXICO. BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, Las Barracas (ca. 30 km E of Santiago), 23°28’20’’N 109°27’10’’W, 50 m, 16.xii.1984, P. DeBach [1 ♀, UCRC].

Extralimital records. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS (USA, HAWAII). Hawaii Island, 0.5 mi. SE of Kahola, 6.vii.1989, H.E. Andersen [1 ♀, UCRC]. MEXICO. NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio Allende: Lazarillos de Abajo, 9.vii.1983, A. González-Hernández [1 ♀, UCRC]. Raíces, Río Ramos, 9.vii.1983, F. Reyes-Vélez [2 ♀, UCRC]. Municipio El Carmen, El Carmen, 10.vii.1983, G. Gordh [1 ♀, UCRC]. TAMAULIPAS, Ciudad Victoria, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas campus, 12–14.ii.2001, S.V. Triapitsyn [1 ♀, UCRC]. USA. CALIFORNIA, Plumas Co., along Warner Creek, 8.5 km NW of Chester, S.L. Heydon [1 ♀, UCDC].

Redescription. See Huber (1988).

Diagnosis. Gonatocerus (Gonatocerus) californicus is distinguished by the following combination: female antenna (Fig. 22) with apex of F1 deeply incised, mps on F7 and F8 only; forewing (Fig. 24) hyaline; gaster (Fig. 23) more or less distinctly spotted; ovipositor relatively short, not or barely exserted beyond apex of gaster, usually about 1.2x as long as metatibia but sometimes up to 1.5x as long as metatibia.

Both G. californicus and the similar Nearctic species G. (Gonatocerus) utahensis Girault (see below) have a characteristic forewing disc without setae behind the submarginal vein and often with setae sparse or absent in a roughly triangular area from just distal of the stigmal vein to the marginal vein (between the anterior margin of the wing and the cubital row of setae). The two species may very well be conspecific because the distinguishing morphological characters given by Huber (1988) are minor and quite likely variable, particularly the relative length of the ovipositor and the coloration of the gaster; also, both taxa were collected in the same locality in Nuevo León, Mexico. The forewing disc of the common Palaearctic and Oriental species, G. (Gonatocerus) sulphuripes (Foerster), whose female antenna and body coloration somewhat resemble G. californicus and G. utahensis, has setae behind the submarginal vein and is uniformly and densely setose behind and beyond marginal and stigmal veins.

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL*: Argentina *, Colombia *, and Mexico. NEARCTIC: Mexico, and USA. OCEANIA: Hawaiian Islands (USA: Hawaii).

Hosts. Unknown.

Comments. Gonatocerus utahensis has a relatively longer ovipositor (exserted beyond the gastral apex by about 0.1x own length) than G. californicus (Huber 1988). Huber (1988) and also De Santis & Fidalgo (1994) [who cited Huber’s (1988) work] reported G. utahensis from Mexico, but the specimens they referred to were all from its Nearctic part and for this reason it is not included in the key to Neotropical species. The Nearctic records from Mexico are as follows: NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio El Carmen, El Carmen, 10.vii.1983, A. González-Hernández [1 ♀, UCRC]. Municipio Escobedo, Hacienda El Canada, 12.vii.1983, J.A. Alvarado [1 ♀, UCRC]. San Juan, Río San Juan, 14.vii.1983, A. González-Hernández [1 ♀, UCRC].

Other new records of G. utahensis from the Nearctic region are: USA. ILLINOIS, Kane Co., 1 mi. S of Alonquin on Fox River, 18.vi.1991, H.E. Andersen [8 ♀, 3 ♂, UCRC]. IOWA, Iowa Co., 2 mi. E of Victor on I-80, 21.vi.1991, H.E. Andersen [2 ♀, UCRC].