| Anabremia inquilina | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Cecidomyiidae |
| Genus: | Anabremia |
| Species: | A. inquilina |
| Binomial name | |
| Anabremia inquilina Solinas, 1965 | |
Anabremia inquilina is a gall midge and a member of the genus Anabremia . This species was first described from Italy in 1965. [1] It is an inquiline of another gall midge - Jaapiella medicaginis - which makes galls on Medicago species. [1] [2]
Galls or cecidia are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or warts in animals. They can be caused by various parasites, from viruses, fungi and bacteria, to other plants, insects and mites. Plant galls are often highly organized structures so that the cause of the gall can often be determined without the actual agent being identified. This applies particularly to some insect and mite plant galls. The study of plant galls is known as cecidology.
A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some midges, such as many Phlebotominae and Simuliidae, are vectors of various diseases. Many others play useful roles as prey for insectivores, such as various frogs and swallows. Others are important as detritivores, and form part of various nutrient cycles. The habits of midges vary greatly from species to species, though within any particular family, midges commonly have similar ecological roles.
The Nematocera are a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae. This group is paraphyletic and contains all flies but species from suborder Brachycera, which includes more commonly known species as housefly or the common fruit fly. Families in Nematocera include mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, black flies, and a multiple groups of families described as midges. The Nematocera typically have fairly long, fine, finely-jointed antennae. In many species, such as most mosquitoes, the female antennae are more or less threadlike, but the males have spectacularly plumose antennae.
Cecidomyiidae is a family of flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small insects usually only 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in length; many are less than 1 mm (0.039 in) long. They are characterised by hairy wings, unusual in the order Diptera, and have long antennae. Some Cecidomyiids are also known for the strange phenomenon of paedogenesis in which the larval stage reproduces without maturing first. In some species, the daughter larvae consume the mother, while in others, reproduction occurs later on in the egg or pupa.
Myrmecia inquilina is a species of ant endemic to Australia in the subfamily Myrmeciinae, first discovered in 1955 and described by Athol Douglas and William Brown Jr. in 1959. These ants are large, measuring 21.4 millimetres (0.84 in). During the time of its discovery, Douglas and Brown announced M. inquilina as the first social parasite among the primitive subfamilies, and today it is one of the two known Myrmecia species to have no worker caste. Two host species are known, Myrmecia nigriceps and Myrmecia vindex. Aggression between M. inquilina and its host species does not occur, and colonies may only produce M. inquilina brood months after the inquiline queens begin to lay their eggs. Queens eat the colony brood or trophic eggs, and other Myrmecia species may kill M. inquilina queens if they reject them. Due to its restricted distribution and threats to its habitat, the ant is "vulnerable" according to the IUCN Red List.
Orseolia oryzae, also called the Asian rice gall midge, is a species of small fly in the family Cecidomyiidae. It is a major insect pest of rice. The damage to the crop is done by the larvae which form galls commonly known as "silver shoots" or "onion shoots". The rice plant is stunted and the seed heads fail to develop.
Daphnephila truncicola is a species of gall midges first associated with stem galls on Lauraceae species, particularly Machilus thunbergii in Taiwan. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. This genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.
Daphnephila ornithocephala is a species of gall midge first associated with leaf galls on Lauraceae species, particularly Machilus thunbergii in Taiwan. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. This genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.
A gnat is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large numbers, called clouds. "Gnat" is a loose descriptive category rather than a phylogenetic or other technical term, so there is no scientific consensus on what constitutes a gnat. Some entomologists consider only non-biting flies to be gnats. Certain universities and institutes also distinguish eye gnats: the Smithsonian Institution describes them as "non-biting flies, no bigger than a few grains of salt, ... attracted to fluids secreted by your eyes".
Asphondylia is a cosmopolitan genus of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. All species in this genus induce galls on plants, especially on flowers and flower buds. There are over 300 described species in Asphondylia, with many more likely to be discovered and described, especially in the southern hemisphere.
Caryomyia is a genus of hickory gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. They are often known as the hickory gall midges since most species feed on various species of hickory. There are at least 30 described species in Caryomyia.
Rhopalomyia is a genus of gall midges, insects in the family Cecidomyiidae. There are at least 267 described species in Rhopalomyia. Most species in this genus induce galls on plants in the Asteraceae. This genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. Rhopalomyia was first established by Ewald Heinrich Rübsaamen in 1892.
Celticecis is a genus of hackberry gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae.
Contarinia negundinis, known generally as boxelder gall midge, is a species of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. Other common names include the boxelder bud gall midge and boxelder leaf gall midge. It is the only North American species that enters diapause during the pupal stage of development.
Janetiella is a genus of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. There are at least 30 described species in Janetiella.
Polystepha pilulae, the oak leaf gall midge, is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae. It is found in eastern North America.
Daphnephila is a genus of gall midge that appears in the Palearctic and Oriental biogeographic realms. Daphnephila species create leaf and stem galls on species of laurel plants, particularly in Machilus. Based on analysis on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit.
Anabremia is a genus of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae. The six described species are found in the Palearctic and likely inquilines of Dasineura galls on plants in the legume family. This genus was first described by Jean-Jacques Kieffer in 1912.
Orseolia oryzivora, also called the African rice gall midge, is a species of small fly in the family Cecidomyiidae. It is a major insect pest of rice crops in Africa.
Asphondylia amaranthi is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae.
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