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We review the genera of Phanacidini and provide updated diagnoses for each genus and a new key to the four genera. We also redescribe the enigmatic herb gall wasp Diakontschukia saussureae Diakontschuk, 2001 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Phanacidini), based on a specimen collected in Haopingsi Nature Reserve, China. This is the first record of the tribe Phanacidini in China. Lastly, we provide extensive commentary on the validity of diagnostic characters that have been used for Phanacidini relative to other herb gall wasp tribes. We carried out a survey of Aulacideini, Aylacini, and Phanacidini to identify whether the length of F1 relative to F2 was of diagnostic value at the tribal level, finding that F1 was always conspicuously longer than F2 in Phanacidini and Aylacini but at most subequal to F2 in Aulacideini, suggesting that this is indeed a valuable character for diagnosing herb gall wasp tribes. Other characters discussed are the closure of the marginal cell and the dimensions of the mesopectus. 

We describe three new aulacideine herb gall wasp species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Aulacideini) from Kyrgyzstan, a country from which only two Aulacideini species were previously known. One of our new species represents a new genus, which we describe here as Soparia oshensis Nastasi gen. and sp. nov. We describe Panteliella rugosa Nastasi sp. nov., representing a new genus record for Kyrgyzstan. To further facilitate species recognition in Panteliella, we redescribe the genus and the species P. fedtschenkoi; provide a translated description of P. bianchii Vyrzhikovskaya, 1962; comment on complications affecting this genus; and provide a key to Panteliella species. Lastly, we describe Isocolus barakus Nastasi sp. nov., a species with morphology atypical of Isocolus. We provide a key to the Kyrgyz genera of Aulacideini to ensure that they remain diagnosable for future study. Our findings illustrate the continued unveiling of a diverse herb cynipid fauna in Central Asia and a need for further taxonomic study in the region.  

We describe Diastrophus wushei Davis & Nastasi sp. nov. and D. renai Davis & Nastasi sp. nov., two gall wasp species collected on Wushe Mountain, Taiwan by the late Henry Townes. These species represent the first Diastrophini and potentially the first non-Fagaceae associated species of gall wasp described from Taiwan. We speculate on potential hosts plants for further study and possible avenues to elucidate their biology.  

Aulacidea follioti Barbotin, 1972 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Aulacideini) is a species of gall wasp inducing stem galls on Sonchus asper (L.) Hill (Asteraceae: Cichorieae). While this species is native to western Europe, we located specimens of this species deposited in several North American collections. The nine specimens we examined suggest that the species is present in several US states and Canadian provinces and has been present in North America since at least 1948. An observation showing the gall and larvae of the species in Oregon (USA) was uploaded to the community science platform iNaturalist in July 2024, confirming that the species is still present in North America. 

Galls are novel plant structures that develop in response to select biotic stressors. These structures, extended phenotypes of the inducer, usually serve to protect and feed the inducer or its progeny. This life history strategy has evolved dozens of times, and tens of thousands of species — including many bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mites and insects — are capable of manipulating plants in this way. The variation in gall phenotypes is extraordinary across species but usually predictable for each species of inducer. We introduce here a new ontology, GallOnt, that facilitates consistent descriptions and the semantic representation of and reasoning over plant gall phenotype data. GallOnt was largely developed from ontologies in the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry and stands to connect plant gall phenotypes to knowledge derived from model plant systems, including genotype-phenotype and agricultural research. We also introduce the idea of a new gall data standard — Minimum Information for the Description of Galls (MIDG version 0.1) — as a starting point for discussions regarding cecidology best practices. 

We describe Aulacidea manchuria Nastasi sp. nov., a new species of herb gall wasp from China and the second species of Aulacidea Ashmead, 1897 to be described from the country. Based on morphological data, A. manchuria belongs to the Aulacidea hieracii group, which is known to induce galls on the stems, leaves, and stolons of Hieracium L. and Pilosella Hill; we provide a key to Eastern Palearctic females of this species group to better enable identification of these species. We discuss records of herb gall wasps from China, the recognition of hawkweed gall wasp species, and further issues with taxonomy of this species group and of Aulacidea.   

Distributional checklists of the extant, described species of five superfamilies of Hymenoptera of Canada, Alaska and Greenland are presented. In total, 296 species in 79 genera in 12 families are recorded: 55 species of Ceraphronoidea, classified in 10 genera in 2 families, 205 species of Cynipoidea in 58 genera in 5 families, 30 species of Evanioidea in 5 genera in 3 families of Evanioidea, 2 species of Stephanoidea in 2 genera in 1 family and 4 species of Trigonalyoidea in 4 genera in 1 family. Of the reported species, 281 (in 79 genera in 12 families) are listed from Canada, 31 (in 16 genera in 6 families) from Alaska, and 7 (in 5 genera in 2 families) from Greenland. The list includes 8 new generic records for Canada (1 Ceraphronoidea, 6 Cynipoidea and 1 Evanioidea) and 43 new Canadian species records (13 Ceraphronoidea, 28 Cynipoidea and 2 Evanioidea). For each species in Canada, distribution is tabulated by province or territory, except the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is divided into the island of Newfoundland and the region of Labrador. These checklists are compared with previous Nearctic and Palaearctic surveys, checklists and catalogues.Kleidotoma minimaProvancher, 1883 (Figitidae) is moved from this genus toHexacolaFörster, 1869 to formH. minimum(Provancher, 1883),comb. nov.Amblynotus slossonaeCrawford, 1917 (Figitidae) is moved fromMelanipsWalker, 1835 toAmphithectusHartig, 1840 formingA. slossonae(Crawford, 1917),comb. nov. 

Two new species of Ormyrus Westwood, 1832 (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Ormyridae) are described: Ormyrus myrae Nastasi, Alcorn, & Davis sp. nov. and Ormyrus bellbowl Nastasi, Alcorn, & Davis sp. nov. Species of Ormyrus are parasitoids in insect galls, especially those induced by Cynipidae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea), and the new species are parasitoids in galls induced by Antistrophus Walsh, 1869 (Cynipidae: Aulacideini) on rosinweeds of the genus Silphium L. (Asteraceae: Heliantheae). Ormyrus bellbowl is a parasitoid of Antistrophus meganae Tooker & Hanks, 2004 in stems of S. terebinthinaceum Jacq., as well as other species of Antistrophus inducing inconspicuous galls in stems of S. laciniatum L. Ormyrus myrae is a parasitoid of Antistrophus laciniatus Gillette, 1891 on S. laciniatum and S. terebinthinaceum; the latter represents a new association of A. laciniatus with S. terebinthinaceum. Previous records of O. labotus Walker, 1843 in association with Antistrophus species are suggested as the results of misidentifications.  

The herb gall wasp fauna of the Eastern Palearctic is a diverse but understudied assemblage (Melika 2006). Recently, two species have been described from China: Aulacidea hei Wang et al., 2012 and A. manchuria Nastasi, 2024 (Nastasi & Deans 2024). While the latter species was described with high-quality images and a detailed discussion of its taxonomy, A. hei is virtually unknown aside from a morphological description and several photos. We discovered an herb gall wasp among unsorted cynipoids on loan from the Entomology Museum of Utah State (EMUS, Logan, Utah, USA) that perfectly agrees with the original description and images of A. hei. Locating this specimen allows us to re-illustrate key diagnostic characters, discuss its placement within the Aulacideini, and highlight important label data. The new specimen was collected in Russia, a new country record for A. hei.