Rabdophaga rigidae

Rabdophaga rigidae, the willow beaked-gall midge, is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae.[1][2] It is found across North America. Some sources state that it is also present in parts of eastern Asia including Japan; however, a 2006 study shows that the Asian populations likely represent a separate species: Rabdophaga salicivora.[3]

Rabdophaga rigidae
Stem galls on Salix sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Cecidomyiidae
Genus: Rabdophaga
Species:
R. rigidae
Binomial name
Rabdophaga rigidae
(Osten Sacken, 1862)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cecidomyia rigidae Osten Sacken, 1862
  • Cecidomyia salicis Fitch, 1845
  • Cecidomyia siliqua Osten Sacken, 1878

Life history

The larvae of this midge form galls as they develop in the terminal buds of willows. They overwinter in these galls and emerge in the spring as adults.[4]

In studies performed on Salix eriocarpa, it was found that plants colonized by the willow beaked-gall midge are stimulated to produce greater numbers of lateral shoots. This younger secondary growth in turn leads to increased herbivory by aphids such as Aphis farinosa and leaf beetles such as Plagiodera versicolora and Smaragdina semiaurantiaca.[5]

References
  1. "Rabdophaga rigidae Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  2. "Rabdophaga rigidae species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  3. Sato, Shinsuke; Yukawa, Junichi (December 2006). "Resurrection of Rabdophaga salicivora Shinji (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), a Japanese gall midge formerly misidentified as a North American species, Rabdophaga rigidae (Osten Sacken), with observations on the phylogenetic relationships of its populations in Japan and the Russian Far East". Entomological Science. 9 (4): 423–434. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8298.2006.00188.x. ISSN 1343-8786. S2CID 85403728.
  4. "Rabdophaga rigidae Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  5. Nakamura, M.; Miyamoto, Y.; Ohgushi, T. (2003). "Gall Initiation Enhances the Availability of Food Resources for Herbivorous Insects". Functional Ecology. 17 (6): 851–857. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2003.00786.x. ISSN 0269-8463. JSTOR 3599257.

Further reading
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