LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS OF RHABDOPHAGA SP. (DIPTERA: CECIDOMYIIDAE), A GALL MIDGE ATTACKING WILLOW IN MICHIGAN
Louis F. Wilson
Abstract
Louis F. Wilson
Abstract
Abstract The taxonomic status of Rhabdophaga sp. cannot be determined until a complete revision of the genus occurs. Rhabdophaga sp. on Salix discolor Mühl. is univoltine in Michigan. Adults emerge in mid-April, and shortly afterward deposit numerous eggs on the setaceous undersurface of emerging willow leaves; larval eclosion occurs between 1 and 2 weeks later. Head capsule measurements reveal three larval instars. The first-instar larva bores into the stem until it reaches the pith. Gall development begins about mid-June shortly after the second instar appears. The third-instar larva overwinters in the gall and the pupa appears in early April. The prolate gall is found on the proximal ends of young willow shoots; heavily galled shoots usually die.
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Abstract The taxonomic status of Rhabdophaga sp. cannot be determined until a complete revision of the genus occurs. Rhabdophaga sp. on Salix discolor Mühl. is univoltine in Michigan. Adults emerge in mid-April, and shortly afterward deposit numerous eggs on the setaceous undersurface of emerging willow leaves; larval eclosion occurs between 1 and 2 weeks later. Head capsule measurements reveal three larval instars. The first-instar larva bores into the stem until it reaches the pith. Gall development begins about mid-June shortly after the second instar appears. The third-instar larva overwinters in the gall and the pupa appears in early April. The prolate gall is found on the proximal ends of young willow shoots; heavily galled shoots usually die.
Key concepts: Gall, Cecidomyiidae, Midge, Instar, Biology, Pupa, Larva, Botany