Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.
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.
Michael Chinery is an English naturalist.
The Pineapple gall adelgid is a type of conifer-feeding insect that forms pineapple-shaped plant galls on its host species, commonly Norway and Sitka spruce. The adelgids are pear-shaped, soft-bodied green insects with long antennae, closely related to the aphid. Adelges lays up to one hundred eggs at a time, one on each needle. Adelges abietis is one of the most common species; synonyms are A. gallarum-abietis, Chermes abietis and Sacciphantes abietis.
Rabdophaga salicis is a gall midge which forms galls on sallows. It was first described by Franz von Paula Schrank in 1803.
Cydia servillana is a moth of the family Tortricidae which forms galls on the young shoots of willow. It was first described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1836.
Rabdophaga marginemtorquens is a gall midge which forms galls on willows and is found in Europe. It was described by Johann Jacob Bremi-Wolf in 1847.
Iteomyia capreae is a gall midge which forms galls on willows. It was first described by Johannes Winnertz in 1853.
Aculus laevis is a species of mite which causes galls on the leaves of sallows. It was first described by Alfred Nalepa in 1892.
Psylla buxi, known generally as the boxwood psyllid or box sucker, is a species of plant-parasitic hemipteran in the family Psyllidae. It is native to Europe and introduced to North America.
Tetraneura ulmi, the elm sack gall aphid and also known as a fig gall, is a species of aphid in the family Aphididae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus and named in his Systema Naturae, published in 1758. The mite is found in Asia, Europe and North America, causing abnormal plant growths, known as galls on their primary host, elm trees (Ulmus species). They feed on a secondary host, the roots of various grasses.
Dasineura fraxini is a gall midge which forms galls on the leaves of ash. It was first described by Johann Jacob Bremi-Wolf in 1847.
Andricus inflator is a species of gall-forming wasps, in the genus Andricus, which has a sexual and an asexual generation, producing two different galls. The wasp was named by the German biologist Theodor Hartig, in 1840 and is found in Europe.
Trioza alacris is a sap-sucking hemipteran bug in the family Triozidae which creates galls on the leaves of Laurus species. It is found in Europe.
Massalongia rubra is a species of gall midge which forms galls in the leaves of birch. It was first described by the French naturalist and entomologist, Jean-Jacques Kieffer in 1890 and is found in Europe.
Spanioneura fonscolombii, is a species of plant-parasitic psyllid in the family Psyllidae which feed on box. It was first described by Arnold Förster in 1848 and is found in Europe. It is also found in the United States of America where it was accidentally introduced.
Diastrophus rubi is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae that live on the stems of bramble. The insect was first described by the German entomologist Peter Friedrich Bouché in 1834 and is found in Europe.
Lasioptera rubi is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae and is found in Europe. It was first described in 1803 by the German priest, botanist and entomologist, Franz von Paula Schrank. The larvae feed within the tissue of brambles, creating abnormal plant growths known as galls.
Aceria campestricola, is a species of mite in the family Eriophyidae. The mite causes galls on the leaves of elms and was described by Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld in 1865.
Eriosoma ulmi, the elm-currant aphid, is a species of aphid in the family Aphididae found in Asia and Europe. It is a true bug and sucks sap from plants. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae, published in 1758. The mite causes abnormal plant growths, known as galls on their primary host, elm trees (Ulmus species). To complete there life-cycle they feed on a secondary host, the roots of currant bushes.
