Taxonomy and biology of a new ambrosia gall midge Daphnephila urnicola sp. nov. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) inducing urn-shaped leaf galls on two species of Machilus (Lauraceae) in Taiwan

Abstract

Recent field surveys show that galls induced by Daphnephila spp. (Cecidomyiidae) on Machilus spp. (Lauraceae) are common in Taiwan, yet only five species, four leaf-gall inducers and one stem-gall inducer on M. thunbergii, have been named in the past. Here we describe a new species, Daphnephila urnicola sp. nov. Chiang, Yang & Tokuda, inducing urn-shaped galls on leaves of both M. zuihoensis and M. mushaensis. Comparisons of D. urnicola populations on M. zuihoensis and on M. mushaensis, indicate that they belong to one species, a result supported by gall midge morphology, life-history traits, gall shape and structure, the developmental process of gall tissues, fungal associations, and DNA-sequencing data. Size and structure of the gall operculum was found to differ between M. zuihoensis and M. mushahaensis.

An Integrative Study on Asphondylia spp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), Causing Flower Galls on Lamiaceae, with Description, Phenology, and Associated Fungi of Two New Species

“…In fact, Cladosporium spp. Represent quite a constant finding in investigations concerning cecidomyid-associated fungi [33,48,49]; moreover, the presence of Cladosporium conidia in mycangia has been reported, as well as isolation from adults [43], which could imply an active role by the midges in spreading these fungi. However, unlike gall isolates of Botryosphaeria, which invariably belong to the species B. dothidea regardless of the host plant, Cladosporium isolates display taxonomic heterogeneity.…”

Leaf gall polymorphism and molecular phylogeny of a new Bruggmanniella species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae: Asphondyliini) associated with Litsea acuminata (Lauraceae) in Taiwan, with ecological comparisons and a species description

“…The amplifications were carried out as in Pan et al . (), except for volumes of 25 mM dNTPs (0.2 μL) and double‐distilled water change (19.8 μL). The purification of amplification products was carried out using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) for direct sequencing.…”

“…Primers designed in this study are based on the mitochondrial DNA information of Simosyrphus grandicornis (Diptera: Syrphidae) (Cameron et al 2007): forward end, Diptera-49F (5 0 -AATCATAAAGATAT TGGAAC-3 0 ); and reverse end, Diptera-734R (5 0 -CAACATTTATTTTGATTTTTTGG-3 0 ). The amplifications were carried out as in Pan et al (2015b), except for volumes of 25 mM dNTPs (0.2 μL) and doubledistilled water change (19.8 μL). The purification of amplification products was carried out using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) for direct sequencing.…”