Rabdophaga terminalis

Rabdophaga terminalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Cecidomyiidae
Genus:	Rabdophaga
Species:	R. terminalis
Binomial name
	Rabdophaga terminalis; (Loew, 1850)
Synonyms
	Dasineura terminalis; Rabdophaga saligna (Hardy, 1950); Cecidomyia saligna Hardy, 1850

Rabdophaga strobilina is a gall midge which forms galls on the buds of some species of willow (Salix species). It was first described by Hermann Loew in 1850.

Description

The gall is green, reddish, later black but never hairy. The leaves of the terminal bud are slightly thickened, sometimes crinkled and curled into an elongate gall, which can be hidden by older leaves. Inside the gall is an elongate cavity with orange or reddish larva numbering from one to forty.[1][2]

It is uncertain whether white larva are the young larva of R. terminalis or inquilines, Macrolabis saliceti and/or R. strobilina.[2]

The gall has been found on the following species:

Salix alba – white willow
Salix babylonica – Babylon willow
Salix caesia
Salix excelsa
Salix fragilis – crack willow
Salix pentandra – bay willow
Salix purpurea – purple willow
Salix triandra – almond willow
Salix viminalis – osier
Salix viridis

Distribution

The insect or gall has been found in Belgium and the United Kingdom.

References

Redfern, Margaret; Shirley, Peter; Bloxham, Michael (2011). British Plant Galls (Second ed.). Shrewsbury: FSC Publications. pp. 282–299. ISBN 978 1 85153 284 1.
Ellis, W N. "Rabdophaga terminalis". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 2 January 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[″pg″-1] Redfern, Margaret; Shirley, Peter; Bloxham, Michael (2011). British Plant Galls (Second ed.). Shrewsbury: FSC Publications. pp. 282–299. ISBN 978 1 85153 284 1.

[wne-2] Ellis, W N. "Rabdophaga terminalis". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 2 January 2018.