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Title: A NEW SPECIES OF GALL MIDGE (DIPTERA: CECIDOMYIIDAE) FROM SUBTERRANEAN STEM GALLS OF LICANIA MICHAUXII (CHRYSOBALANACEAE) IN FLORIDA

Author
item Gagne, Raymond
item HIBBARD, KENNETH - FL DEPT.AGRIC., FT.PIERCE

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) are pests of many plants but are sometimes only discovered when a plant reaches a certain threshold of public interest as food, ornament, or ecological indication. A new species from Florida previously unknown to science is described and is reported to damage its host plant, gopher apple, an indigenous plant that is important as food for wildlife and for retention of soil in sandy areas. This species is named and all stages described to allow for future identification and will benefit scientists studying the biology and impact of this new species on the development of its host plant and impact on wildlife.

Technical Abstract: A new species of gall midge is described from subterranean stem galls on Licania michauxii Prance from Florida. The gall former is a new species of Lopesia and the first record of this genus in North America. The limits of Lopesia, a genus previously recorded only from South America and Africa, are enlarged to accept the new species. The species is described and illustrated. The pupa of this species is unique in Cecidomyiidae for its large, robust, dorsal abdominal spines that may be used in pushing through sandy soil after leaving the gall.