Belonocnema kinseyi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Belonocnema kinseyi | |
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| Asexual galls of Belonocnema kinseyi | |
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| Sexual generation root gall of Belonocnema kinseyi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Cynipidae |
| Genus: | Belonocnema |
| Species: | B. kinseyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Belonocnema kinseyi Weld, 1921 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Belonocnema kinseyi is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus virginiana and Quercus fusiformis. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the underside of leaves whereas the sexual generation form galls on the roots. It can be found in the United States, where it is known from Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.[1] It, along with the other described Belonocnema species, have been used to study speciation.[2]
Belonocnema kinseyi was first named in 1921 by Lewis Hart Weld based on individuals raised from asexual leaf galls collected on Quercus fusiformis in Boerne, Texas. The specific epithet "kinseyi" honors prominent entomologist and sexologist Alfred Kinsey, who greatly contributed to knowledge of North American gall wasps.[3]
In 1998, it was discovered that the asexual generation described from Texas induced sexual root galls, which at the time was believed to only be associated with Belonocnema treatae. Thus, B. kinseyi was placed as a junior synonym under B. treatae.[4] It was subsequently re-elevated to species status through genetic and morphological analysis in 2021.[1]
Genetic data places Belonocnema kinseyi as an outgroup to a clade containing its sister species B. treatae and B. fossoria.[1] Additionally, A 2022 study investigating the evolutionary relationships within the family Cynipidae used data from B. kinseyi, where it was placed in the phylogeny as sister to Druon quercuslanigerum.[5]