Bassettia Explained
Bassettia is a genus of gall wasps found in North America.
Taxonomic history
This genus was circumscribed by William Harris Ashmead in 1887. Ashmead named the genus after "Mr. H. F. Bassett, of Waterbury, Conn., who has done so much towards advancing our knowledge of these intricate Hymenopters". Two species were included in the genus's initial circumscription: B. floridana, described in the same work, and B. tenuicornis. Bassett had described the latter species in 1881, placing it in the genus Cynips.
Ashmead later designated B. floridana as the genus's type species.
Species
A 2007 revision of the genus by G. Melika and W. G. Abrahamson recognizes the following eight species in this genus:
- Bassettia archboldi — Florida
- Bassettia floridana — Connecticut, Florida
- Bassettia gemmae — Missouri, Illinois, District of Columbia
- Bassettia ligni — California, Oregon
- Bassettia pallida — Georgia, Florida
- Bassettia tenuana — New Mexico
- Bassettia virginiana — Virginia
- Bassettia weldi — Arizona
Subsequent changes include the addition of:
- Bassettia caulicola — Panama
Former species
Melika and Abrahamson transferred or restored these species from Bassettia to Callirhytis in 2002. They had been included in Weld's 1951 taxonomy of Bassettia.
- Callirhytis aquaticae
- Callirhytis ceropteroides
- Callirhytis herberti
- Callirhytis quercuscatesbaei
Further reading
- Ashmead. William H.. Descriptions of new cynipidous Galls and Gall-Wasps in the United States National Museum. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 1896. 19. 1102. 128.
- Book: Burks. B. D.. Krombein. Karl V.. Hurd. Paul D. Jr.. Smith. David R.. Burks. B. D.. Symphyta and Apocrita (Parasitica). 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC. 1096–1097. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4144939. Superfamily Cynipoidea. 1. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico.
- Book: von Dalla Torre. K. W.. Kieffer. J. J.. Hymenoptera: Fam. Cynipidæ. 1902. P. Wytsman. Bruxelles. 71–72. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34623822. Genus Bassettia, Ashmead. Genera Insectorum. 10.
- Book: von Dalla Torre. K. W.. Kieffer. J. J.. Cynipidae. 1910. R. Friedländer und Sohn. Berlin. 648–649. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/890347. Gen. Bassettia Ashm.. Das Tierrich. 24.
- Kinsey. Alfred C.. New Pacific Coast Cynipidæ (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 1922. 46. 3. 291–292. 2246/1962. free.
- Book: Thompson. Millett Taylor. An Illustrated Catalogue of American Insect Galls. 1915. Nassau, Rensselaer Co., NY. 36.
- Weld. Lewis H.. American gallflies of the family Cynipidae producing subterranean galls on oak. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 1921. 59. 2368. 232–234. 10.5479/si.00963801.59-2368.187.
