Author
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Gagne, Raymond |
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Submitted to: Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/1996 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Many species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) are pests of plants, and other species are predators of destructive insects and mites. In this paper, a West Indian species previously unknown to science is described. This species is evidently related to predaceous cecidomyiids and has its egg-laying apparatus conformed in a way unique to the family. This new species with its atypical ovipositor is described in detail to make it known to scientists studying predators of insect pests. This information may prove useful in integrated pest management and biological control programs. Technical Abstract: A new genus, Atopodiplosis, is described for a new species, Atopodiplosis wirthi, from Dominica, West Indies. The new genus belongs to the supertribe Cecidomyiidi and possibly to the tribe Lestodiplosini. It is unique for its peculiar female postabdomen, which is enlarged, rigid, nonprotrusible, and conformed unlike any previously known ovipositor in Cecidomyiidae. |
