Craneiobia tuba

Craneiobia tuba
The gall formed by C. tuba, on the leaf of Cornus drummondii , Lincoln, NE, 2025
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Cecidomyiidae
Genus:	Craneiobia
Species:	C. tuba
Binomial name
Craneiobia tuba (Stebbins, 1910)
Craneiobia tuba range, estimated with the iNaturalist Geomodel, 2025
Synonyms [1]
Cecidomyia tuba Stebbins, 1910

Craneiobia tuba is a species of gall midges, insects in the family Cecidomyiidae. ^{[1] [2]} The flies are known for inducing long cylindrical galls on four dogwood species: C. amomum, C. drummondii, C. racemosa, and C. sericea. ^{[3] [4]} The galls form on the midrib or leaf veins, and are generally red or green and hairy. ^[4]

Ecology

Adult females lay their eggs on dogwood leaves as they unfold in the spring. Before the gall is formed, Craneiobia tuba eggs and larvae can be parasitized by parasitoid wasps from the family Platygasteridae. ^[3] Galls will form by the summer, with distinct chambers for each larva. After the larvae complete four instars, they emerge in late fall and spend the winter buried underground in cocoons. ^[3]

References

1. "Craneiobia tuba Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
2. "Craneiobia tuba Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
3. Kinateder, David; Stein, Steven J (1998). "Effects of Parasitoids and Competition on Clutch Size of a Galling Midge". The Prairie Naturalist Great Plains Natural Science Society. 30 (4).
4. "Craneiobia tuba". Gallformers. Retrieved September 26, 2025.

Further reading

• Gagné, Raymond J.; Jaschhof, Mathias (2017). A Catalog of the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) of the World, Fourth Edition (PDF). Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2018.
• Gagné, Raymond J.; Jaschhof, Mathias (2014). A Catalog of the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) of the World (PDF) (Report). Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2014.