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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #281964
Title: The North American gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of hackberries (Cannabaceae: Celtis spp.)

Author
item GAGNE, R. - Retired ARS Employee
item MOSER, J. - Forest Service (FS)

Submitted to: Memoirs of the American Entomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2013
Publication Date: 7/1/2013
Citation: Gagne, R.J., Moser, J.C. 2013. The North American gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of hackberries (Cannabaceae: Celtis spp.). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society. 49:1-103.

Interpretive Summary: Gall midges are flies that feed on a broad array of agricultural commodities, including grains, vegetables and forest trees. Some gall midges attack hackberry that is often used as a shade tree in urban environments due to its drought tolerance and size. Hackberries are also important to wetlands to help prevent erosion and minimize flooding. This comprehensive survey of the gall midge fauna in North America on hackberries shows that 23 species of gall midges, including 14 new to science, infest and significantly damage hackberries. This study also describes their life stages and distribution, and provides photographs of damage and keys for identification. This research is important to, and will be used by, foresters and other biologists working on pest assessment and control of gall midges on hackberries

Technical Abstract: Twenty-three species of gall midges occur exclusively on hackberries in North America north of Mexico. Twenty-one of them belong to Celticecis and form complex, dehiscent galls on leaves and the current year’s twigs. Celticecis are definitely known only from the typical subgenus of Celtis that is distributed through much of the Holarctic Region. Nearctic species do not appear to discriminate among hosts within the subgenus but each has its individual geographic limits. Galls of most species of Celticecis grow quickly in early spring, but some have a delayed, late summer development. When full grown, larvae form cocoons in the galls that subsequently dehisce at various times during summer and fall. Larvae pupate early the following spring and adults appear shortly after. Some may remain as larvae to pupate the following spring. Larvae of the second and third (ultimate) instars present some of the best characters for determining species and their affinities. Seven of the ten previously described species of North America are valid. Fourteen new species of Celticecis are named and described. Celticecis is to date known also from the a described species from Japan and an undescribed species from Turkey. A new genus, Peracecis Gagné, is described for a new species responsible for an integral leaf gall found in southern United States. Parallelodiplosis acernea (Felt), a widespread inquiline in cecidomyiid and psyllid galls of hackberry, is redescribed and compared to its congeners. Keys to galls and larvae (second and third instars) of Nearctic gall midges on hackberry are presented. Other cecidomyiid galls previously reported on Celtis outside North America are noted.