D3147: Molecular and ecological data suggest new species hypotheses for genus Ceroptres, inquilines of oak galls

Inquilines are animals that take up residence in living spaces made by other species. There are more than 600 species of oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) in North America which induce a large number of morphologically variable galls on oak trees. Due to the variation between different gall types, a prediction is that oak gall inquilines would need special adaptations in order to enter and live in particular galls, and that such gall-specific adaptations might also restrict their ability to do the same with other galls (a trade-off). One understudied group of inquilines associated with oak galls is genus Ceroptres (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Ceroptresini). Despite the great diversity of North American oak galls, only 21 species are described as genus Ceroptres. We reared Ceroptres from 52 types of North American oak galls from across the continental United States and used a combination of DNA barcodes, UCE loci, ecology, and morphology to delineate putative species of Ceroptres. We have found evidence of a considerable amount of undescribed species diversity within North American oak gall associated Ceroptres.