Dasineura crataegi

Dasineura crataegi, the hawthorn button-top gall-midge, is a dipteran gall-midge. It causes the hawthorn button-top gall, which develops in the terminal shoots of common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna Jacq., Midland hawthorn C laevigata (Poir.) DC and their hybrid, C × media Bechst.[1][2] Synonyms are Perrisia crataegi and Cecidomyia crataegi (Winnertz, 1853).[3]

Dasineura crataegi
Button-top gall on Hawthorn
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Cecidomyiidae
Genus: Dasineura
Species:
D. crataegi
Binomial name
Dasineura crataegi
(Winnertz, 1853)

Appearance of the gall
Dissected terminal bud showing ligulate excresences.

The midge induces stunted and distorted rosettes[4] in the host by inhibiting the elongation of the shoot; the rosette is formed from many (8 to 40 or more) slightly thickened and deformed leaves with reduced petioles. Many of the leaves have small green or red ligulate excrescences or projections. The midge larvae are of an orange-red colour.[1][2]

The gall is occasionally found on isolated plants, but infestation is more commonly in hedges, with the new growth resulting from hedge cutting being the site of high density populations. The rosettes stand out prominently against the sky. Old galls persist and new shoots grow from unaffected buds lying well behind the terminal bud.[3]

Life-cycle
Rosette gall with normal growth arising from a side bud.

Adults emerge from pupae in the ground beneath the shrub and the terminal bud infestations start in March or April; the fully grown larvae fall to the ground in September or October to undergo pupation after feeding and sheltering within the leaf rosette for some time.[3]

Distribution and control

The hawthorn button-top gall midge shows a scattered distribution throughout England, however it is an under recorded species.[5] The gall can be controlled by spraying with insecticide at the larval stage.[6]

Parasitoids

Aprostocetus lysippe is a hymenopteran insect of the family Eulophidae and a parasitoid of D. crataegi.

See also

References
Notes
  1. Stubbs, Page 23
  2. Redfern, Page 315
  3. Darlington, Page 137
  4. Hancy, Page 88
  5. NBN Gateway
  6. Pest & Diseases. Accessed : 2010-08-26
Sources
  • Darlington, Arnold (1968). The Pocket Encyclopaedia of Plant Galls in colour. Pub. Blandford Press. Dorset. ISBN 0-7137-0748-8
  • Hancy, Rex (2000). The Study of Plant Galls in Norfolk. The Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist's Society.
  • Redfern, Margaret & Shirley, Peter (2002). British Plant Galls. Identification of galls on plants & fungi. AIDGAP. Shrewsbury : Field Studies Council. ISBN 1-85153-214-5.
  • Stubbs, F. B. Edit. (1986) Provisional Keys to British Plant Galls. Pub. Brit Plant Gall Soc. ISBN 0-9511582-0-1.
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