Massalongia rubra | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Cecidomyiidae |
Genus: | Massalongia |
Species: | M. rubra |
Binomial name | |
Massalongia rubra (Kieffer, 1890) |
Massalongia rubra is a species of gall midge which forms galls in the leaves of birch. [1] It was first described by the French naturalist and entomologist, Jean-Jacques Kieffer in 1890 and is found in Europe. [1]
An elongate, woody swelling (up to 10 mm long) of the mid-rib of a leaf which can extend into the base of lateral veins and the petiole. The gall is more prominent on the underside of the leaf and is initially green, later red-purple and brown. Sometimes the gall is surrounded by a green island on a yellowing leaf. Each gall contains a single larve which are white or yellowish when young and red when mature, with a weak sternal spatula. [2] Mature larva leave the gall in late summer to hibernate and pupate in the soil. Adults emerge in the following spring or summer. [3]
Affected trees are silver birch ( Betula pendula ) and downy birch (Betula pubescens ). [4]
Massalongia rubra has been recorded from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. [4] [5] [6]