A new genus and species of gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from Populus spp. (Salicaceae) in western North America

Journal Article New Species of Gall Midges Get access E. P. Felt E. P. Felt Albouy, N. Y. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Economic Entomology, Volume 4, Issue 6, 1 December 1911, Pages 546–559, https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/4.6.546 Published: 01 December 1911

The Cecidomyiidae (Diptera: Bibionomorpha) fauna of Egypt is poorly known. Investigations in northern Egypt in 2013 revealed the presence of seven species of gall midges on three host plant species: Atriplex halimus L., Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (Moric.) and Suaeda pruniosa Lange (all Chenopodiaceae). Among the gall midges, Baldratia salicorniae Kieffer and Stefaniella trinacriae De Stefani are reconfirmed records in Egypt; Houardiella gracilis Dorchin & Freidberg and Asphondylia punica Marchal are new records; and Baldratia karamae Elsayed & Skuhraván. sp. , Primofavilla aegyptiaca Elsayed n. sp. and Stefaniella skuhravae Elsayed n. sp. are new to science. Adult morphology of the latter three new species is described and illustrated, and their biology and geographic distribution are given.

Camillemyia prominens Gagné, gen. n. et sp. n., (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae; Cecidomyiinae) is described for a gall midge from Mexico with an extremely elongate neck and proboscis. The external and internal basic composition of the proboscis of Cecidomyiidae, as exemplified by Cecidomyia resinicola Osten Sacken, is reviewed to help understand the structural changes found in Cam. prominens as compared to those of Contarinia prolixa Gagné & Byers, another species with spectacularly modified mouthparts.

During the study of pollination mutualisms between cecidomyiid flies and Aspidistra flowers in Guangxi, southern China, we discovered a new species of gall midge, the only known pollinator for Aspidistra saxicola. It is described as Resseliella saxicolae sp. nov., based on morphological comparison with known congeners and DNA barcoding sequencing data. The new species is distinguished by dense body setae (except the thorax), uniform flagellomeres in both sexes, longer marginal wing setae, an obvious transverse arcuate scutum (located in the posterior thorax) and curved claws longer than empodia. Its wings lack special spots or stripes, while the dense setae covering and prominent scutum ridge are unique among congeners. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequencing indicated that adults and larvae from A. saxicola flowers belong to the same species. Bayesian analysis showed that Resseliella saxicolae and the morphologically similar species R. kadsurae Yukawa, Sato and Xu (2011) were placed in one clade. The gall midge is diurnal and mates at nearby perch sites. In the life cycle of R. saxicolae, females oviposit in flower buds or flowers, with larvae feeding on pollen before pupating in soil. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:53EF132A-6929-40EF-BF0C-60E52B3D4697

Simple SummaryCurrent knowledge of some species of Asphondylia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is very scarce, such as those causing flower galls on Lamiaceae. Their role in natural and agricultural ecosystems remains to be investigated. Hitherto, the description of new species of this genus was mostly based on morphological variations of both the adult and the young instars. However, these variations are frequently limited and unreliable for species discrimination, and need the essential support of molecular data. Interesting aspects that are widely unexplored of this group of Asphondylia are their biological traits and the association with parasitoids and fungi. This paper provides an integrated description of two species of Asphondylia infesting flowers of Clinopodium vulgare and Micromeria graeca, and also provides data on host range and symbiosis with associated fungi.An integrative study on some species of Asphondylia was carried out. Two species of gall midges from Italy, Asphondylia rivelloi sp. nov. and Asphondylia micromeriae sp. nov. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), causing flower galls respectively on Clinopodium vulgare and Micromeria graeca (Lamiaceae), are described and illustrated. The characteristics of each developmental stage and induced galls are described, which allowed the discrimination of these new species in the complex of Asphondylia developing on Lamiaceae plants. Molecular data based on sequencing both nuclear (ITS2 and 28S-D2) and mitochondrial (COI) genes are also provided in support of this discrimination. Phylogeny based on nuclear markers is consistent with the new species, whereas COI phylogeny suggests introgression occurring between the two species. However, these species can also be easily identified using a morphological approach. Phenology of host plants and gall midges are described, and some peculiar characteristics allow the complete and confident discrimination and revision of the treated species. Gall-associated fungi were identified as Botryosphaeria dothidea, Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium spp.

A new species of gall midge, Stenodiplosis phragmicola Sinclair and Ahee (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is described. The host plant, Phragmites australis (Cavanilles) Trinius ex Steudel (Poaceae), is a tall, widely distributed emergent aquatic macrophyte. An introduced subspecies of the plant is considered invasive in North America (although a native subspecies also occurs). Insect specimens were collected during September 2010 and 2011 from the florets of common reed at 12 sites around Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Preliminary data on ecological interactions between the plant and the insect are presented. Out of 2400 florets sampled, 9.5% were host to larvae of S. phragmicola. Three sites had much higher rates of infestation, with between 20% and 30% florets, and up to 100% of sampled shoots containing fly larvae. The largest stands in the sample all hosted fly populations and there was a positive association between the reproductive output of P. australis stands (measured as the average inflorescence mass per stand) and the proportion of shoots per stand containing larvae. The occurrence of S. phragmicola on the native subspecies of P. australis is also documented. Insects that consume reproductive structures of the common reed have not previously been reported from the plant's introduced range in North America.

A new species of gall midge that induces stem galls on Aeschynomene denticulata (Fabaceae) is described based on material collected in Pantanal (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil). This species is unique among the Brazilian congeners in having spatula with three convex teeth, cruciate, with defined anterolateral extensions, four lateral papillae on each side of the spatula, and three pairs of terminal papillae (larva), four-segmented palpi (adult), 17 flagellomeres (female), ovipositor about 11 times length of seventh tergite.

1. This is the second of a series of papers in which the fluctuations of insect populations in the field are being studied. 2. The degree of infestation or intensity of attack by the larvae, the degree of parasitism and the dates of emergence (host insect and its parasites) of Dasyneura alopecuri (Reuter), which prevents seed production in Meadow Foxtail grass, have received attention over a period of five years. The methods used have been fully discussed. 3. It would appear possible that reversal in the relative times of emergence of host and parasites may account for sudden changes in the degree of parasitism and, subsequently, changes in the extent of damage suffered by the crop. 4. It is desired to hold over a complete discussion of the results until similar studies on other species of gall midges have been completed.

A BSTR ACT . Five species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) were found during investigations in the Kerman province in the years 2010-2016. Two of these, Xerephedromyia bipartita Mamaev, 1972 and Xerephedromyia mitroshinae Fedotova, 1992, causing galls on Ephedra major (Ephedraceae), were recorded for the first time from Iran. Both species are very rare and have not been found since the time of their original description. Rhopalomyia efremovi

Plant tissue weight, and levels of major chemical elements, were determined for leaves attacked by three species of gall forming Cecidomyiidae, and comparable tissue from normal leaves. Weight of leaves was directly related to the number of galls caused by Dryomyia circinnans, Dasineura fraxini and Craneiobia corni with maximum observed increases in leaf weight of 3, 10 and 3 times, respectively. Chemical analysis of galls on Quercus cerris caused by Dryomyia circinnans revealed that levels of sodium, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium and nitrogen were lower in gall tissue than in normal leaves. Galls caused by Dasineura fraxini, on Fraxinus excelsior, contained higher levels of sodium, potassium and phosphorous but lower than normal levels of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium. Galls of Craneiobia corni, on Cornus sanguinea contained higher levels of potassium but lower than normal amounts of phosphorous, magnesium, calcium and nitrogen. The formation of galls in these plant species results in the relocation, and perhaps loss, of most of the chemicals important for normal growth.ZusammenfassungBestimmung von Pflanzenschäden, verursacht durch drei Gallmückenarten (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)Es wurden das Gewicht, das Pflanzengewebe und die Werte der wichtigsten chemischen Elemente in Blättern bestimmt, die von 3 Gallmücken‐Arten befallen waren und mit den Werten normaler Blätter verglichen. Das Blattgewicht stand direkt zur Anzahl der von Dryomyia circinnans, Dasineura fraxini und Craneiobia corni verursachten Gallen in Beziehung mit einem Maximum der Blattgewichtszunahme um das 3‐, 10‐ und 3fache. Die chemische Analyse der Gallen von Quercus cerris, verursacht von Dryomyia circinnans, ergab, daß die Werte von Natrium, Kalium, Phosphor, Magnesium, Calcium und Stickstoff in Gallengewebe geringer waren als in Normalgewebe. Von Dasineura fraxini verursachte Gallen enthielten dagegen höhere Werte an Natrium, Kalium und Phosphor, aber niedrigere an Stickstoff, Calcium und Magnesium als Normalgewebe. Die Gallen von Craneiobia corni an Cornus sanguinea zeigten höhere Kaliumwerte, aber niedrigere Werte bei den anderen Elementen. Die Gallbildungen bei den genannten Pflanzen resultieren in einer Translokation und wahrscheinlich einem Verlust der wichtigsten für das normale Wachstum notwendigen chemischen Verbindung.

A new genus and species of Lasiopteridi (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) on Haplopappus foliosus (Asteraceae) from Chile

A new species of gall midge, Putoniella gracilis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is described. It infests leaves of plum and peach (Prunus spp.) in southeastern United States. The genus Putoniella is redescribed, and the new species is distinguished from its only congener, the European Putoniella pruni (Kaltenbach), also a pest of Prunus.

With the recent development of high‐quality, digital daily air‐temperature archives over North America, flexible approaches that evaluate trends in time‐varying percentiles are capable of estimating climate‐change parameters from all portions of air‐temperature frequency distributions. Using these methods, intense warming is found in the lowest minimum temperatures over western and central North America. During the months of January through March, the lower tail of the daily minimum air‐temperature distribution over western North America has warmed at rates exceeding 3°C/50yr. Daily maximum air temperatures also are increasing over western Canada and Alaska at this time, but all parts of the frequency distribution are warming equally. Other times of year in western North America, as well as much of eastern North America, show little change in either minimum or maximum air temperature during the last half‐century.

Hong De-Yuan, The Distribution of Scrophulariaceae in the Holarctic With Special Reference to the Floristic Relationships Between Eastern Asia and Eastern North America, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 70, No. 4 (1983), pp. 701-712

Two gall midge species viz., Lasioptera falcata and L. bryoniae are found to infest the bitter gourd causing galls in shoots and leaf petiole arresting further growth of the plant. The infestation of the gall midge was high in Coimbatore (78.6%) and Tiruppur district (72.0%) as compared to other seven districts which showed an infestation of 15.3–18.0%. The natural enemies associated with the immature stages of gall midge are identified as Aprostocetus diplosidis, Bracon sp. and unidentified Platygastrinae. The natural parasitization of gall midge was also high in Coimbatore (43.5%) and Tiruppur (39.6%) districts of Tamil Nadu. The farmers growing bitter gourd ranked gall midge pest as second next to fruit fly and are using more than nine insecticides for controlling the pest including one combination insecticide and two synthetic pyrethroids. The other insecticides used belong to organophosphate, neonicotinoid and pyridincarboxamide groups.