Synergus japonicus

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Synergus japonicus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Cynipidae
Genus: Synergus
Species:
S. japonicus
Binomial name
Synergus japonicus
Walker, 1874 [1]

Synergus japonicus is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Whereas most gall wasps create the galls in which they live, Synergus japonicus is an inquiline species, living in the gall created by another species of wasp. It is native to Japan, China and Russia.

Contents

Distribution

Synergus japonicus was for a long time only known from Japan, but more recently it has been found in China, and also in eastern Russia where it was discovered living in the galls created by Andricus kashiwaphilus , [2] on the Japanese emperor oak, Quercus dentata .

Ecology

About 1,400 species of gall wasps have been described, and of these about 180 develop inside the galls created by other species. These inquilines can be considered as kleptoparasites because the shared gall is an arrangement that is only to the advantage of the inquiline. [3] Gall wasps have complex life cycles, often with an alternation of generations with one sexual generation of both males and females alternating with an all-female, parthenogenetic generation. [4] In the sexual generation, male Synergus japonicus seek out females, but do not distinguish between them on the basis of age or reproductive status. Instead, the males take part in certain courtship behaviours and only proceed to mate with a female if she adopts an acceptance posture. At this stage the female is receptive to the male, and continues in this state for a time, whether the pair copulate or not. Once the acceptance posture is discontinued, it is never adopted again, irrespective of whether the pair have mated. [5]

In Japan, the burr-shaped galls of Andricus mukaigawae normally contain a single cell in which the larva of that gall wasp develops. However, larvae of Synergus japonicus are often also present in the gall, creating their own cells and consuming the gall tissues. [6] The larvae of both species are often parasitised by chalcid wasps in the genus Torymus . [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Diplolepis</i> (wasp) Genus of wasps

Diplolepis is a genus of approximately fifty species in the gall wasp family Cynipidae. The larvae induce galls on wild roses (Rosa), and rarely on domestic roses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gall wasp</span> Superfamily of wasps

Gall wasps, also traditionally calledgallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this generally very small creature are known worldwide, with about 360 species of 36 different genera in Europe and some 800 species in North America.

<i>Andricus quercuscalicis</i> Species of wasp

Andricus quercuscalicis is a gall wasp species inducing knopper galls.

<i>Andricus kollari</i> Species of insect

Andricus kollari, also known as the marble gall wasp, is a parthenogenetic species of wasp which causes the formation of marble galls on oak trees. Synonyms for the species include Cynips kollari, Andricus quercusgemmae, A. minor, A. indigenus and A. circulans.

<i>Andricus foecundatrix</i> Species of wasp

Andricus foecundatrix is a parthenogenetic gall wasp which lays a single egg within a leaf bud, using its ovipositor, to produce a gall known as an oak artichoke gall, oak hop gall, larch-cone gall or hop strobile The gall develops as a chemically induced distortion of leaf axillary or terminal buds on pedunculate oak or sessile oak trees. The larva lives inside a smaller hard casing inside the artichoke and this is released in autumn. The asexual wasp emerges in spring and lays her eggs in the oak catkins. These develop into small oval galls which produce the sexual generation of wasps. A yew artichoke gall caused by the fly Taxomyia taxi also exists, but is unrelated to the oak-borne species. Previous names or synonyms for the species A. fecundator are A. fecundatrix, A. pilosus, A. foecundatrix, A. gemmarum, A. gemmae, A. gemmaequercus, A. gemmaecinaraeformis and A. quercusgemmae.

<i>Andricus</i> Genus of wasps

Andricus is a genus of oak gall wasps in the family Cynipidae.

<i>Biorhiza pallida</i> Species of wasp

Biorhiza pallida is a gall wasp species in the family Cynipidae. This species is a member of the tribe Cynipini: the oak gall wasp tribe. Cynipini is the tribe partially responsible for the formation of galls known as oak apples on oak trees. These are formed after the wasp lays eggs inside the leaf buds and the plant tissues swell as the larvae of the gall wasp develop inside. This wasp has a widespread distribution within Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynipini</span> Tribe of wasps

Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps. It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 936 to 1000 recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks. The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic. Cynipini wasps can act as ecosystem engineers. Their galls can become hosts of inquilines, and the wasps themselves are hosts to parasitoids.

<i>Andricus quercuscalifornicus</i> Species of wasp

Andricus quercuscalifornicus, or the California gall wasp, is a small wasp species that induces oak apple galls on white oaks, primarily the valley oak but also other species such as Quercus berberidifolia. The California gall wasp is considered an ecosystem engineer, capable of manipulating the growth of galls for their own development. It is found from Washington, Oregon, and California to northern regions of Mexico. Often multiple wasps in different life stages occupy the same gall. The induced galls help establish complex insect communities, promoting the diversification in niche differentiation. Furthermore, the adaptive value of these galls could be attributed their ecological benefits such as nutrition, provision of microenvironment, and enemy avoidance.

<i>Andricus aries</i> Species of wasp

Andricus aries is a species of gall-forming wasps, in the genus Andricus. The species was named by the French entomologist Joseph-Étienne Giraud, in 1859. It is commonly found in eastern Europe and during the 21st century has spread to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrastichinae</span> Subfamily of wasps

Tetrastichinae is a subfamily of the chalcid wasp family Eulophidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of the Eulophidae containing over 100 genera and nearly 3,000 species. The species of the family Tetrastichinae are found in almost any type of terrestrial habitat and have a worldwide distribution, except Antarctica. They show a varied biology and hosts for Tetrastichinae wasps have been identified from over 100 different insect families, across 10 different orders and they have also been recorded as being parasitoids on nematodes, mites and spiders' eggs. Some species are even phytophagous, while others are inquilines and yet others are gall formers.

Synergini is a tribe of gall wasps in the subfamily Cynipinae.

Striatoandricus is a genus of Neotropical gall wasps (Cynipidae). There are six described species, four of which were formerly included in Andricus. All species induce galls on oaks in which their larvae live and feed.

Andricus mukaigawae is a species of gall wasp native to southeastern Asia. It creates galls on the buds and leaves of oak trees. The galls are sometimes used by other gall wasps unable to create galls of their own, with both species sharing the gall.

<i>Andricus dimorphus</i> Species of oak gall wasp

Andricus dimorphus, also called the clustered midrib gall wasp, is a species of oak gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Galls in which the larvae live and feed are formed in clusters along the midrib on the underside of oak leaves.

<i>Andricus quercusstrobilanus</i> Species of wasp

Andricus quercusstrobilanus, the lobed oak gall wasp, is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae, found in North America. The quercus in its specific name is the genus name for oak, while "strobilus" is derived from the Greek strobilo which means "cone", a reference to the cone shape of the gall; thus the gall is sometimes called pine cone oak gall.

<i>Phylloteras volutellae</i> Species of wasp

Phylloteras volutellae, the conical oak gall wasp, is a species of gall wasp , tribe Cynipini , found in North America.

<i>Druon ignotum</i> Species of wasp

Druon ignotum is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae.

<i>Druon fullawayi</i> Species of wasp

Druon fullawayi, also known as the yellow wig gall wasp, is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. It was previously placed in the genus Andricus. William Beutenmüller described the female adult wasps as 1.5-2.25 mm long, black with brown mouth parts and brown legs. The galls of D. fullawayi are tan or yellow, woolly, and measure 5-8 mm in diameter. Each gall holds a single chamber for larvae. They are found in California on oak trees, especially Quercus lobata.

Andricus hispanicus is a parthenogenetic species of wasp which causes the formation of marble galls on oak trees. The galls caused by the agamous generation are similar to the closely related Andricus kollari.

References

  1. "Synergus japonicus". NCBI Taxonomy. NCBI. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. "Synergus japonicus Walker, 1874". GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. GBIF. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. Schwéger, Szabina; Melika, George; Tang, Chang-Ti; Bihari, Peter; Bozslo, Miklos; Stone, Grahame N.; Nicholls, James A.; Zsolt, Pénzes (2015). "New species of cynipid inquilines of the genus Synergus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini) from the Eastern Palaearctic" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3999 (4): 451–497. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3999.4.1. ISSN   1175-5334. S2CID   32043701. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-02.
  4. "Oak gall wasps". RHS. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. Abe, Yoshihisa (1991). "Notices on courtship behaviour and copulation of Synergus japonicus Walker (Hym., Cynipidae)". Journal of Applied Entomology. 111 (1–5): 478–483. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0418.1991.tb00350.x.
  6. 1 2 Yang, Xiao-Hui; Zhu, Dao-Hong; Liu, Zhiwei; Zhao, Ling; Su, Cheng-Yuan (2013). "High levels of multiple infections, recombination and horizontal transmission of Wolbachia in the Andricus mukaigawae (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae) communities". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e78970. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078970 . PMC   3826730 . PMID   24250820.