Eucalyptodiplosis paederiae (Felt)

Kolesik, Peter & Gagné, Raymond J., 2020, A review of the gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of Indonesia: taxonomy, biology and adult key to genera, Zootaxa 4847 (1), pp. 1-82 : 74-75

Eucalyptodiplosis paederiae (Felt) . New combination.

[ Figs 17 a–l]

Itonida paederiae Felt 1919: 293 ; Gagné 1975: 515, as unplaced species of Cecidomyiidi .

This Philippine species was mentioned under the Indonesian Hypodiplosis paederiae Kieffer & DvLR that we treated above because it forms a similar leaf roll on the same host, Paederia foetida . We established that the two species are distinct, which we show here with the redescription of I. paederiae and its consequent reassignment to Eucalyptodiplosis .

Material examined. Syntypes, a male and female, were collected in Luzon , Laguna Province, Los Baños, the Philippines, 13-x-1917 Felt #a2882. The specimens are mounted separately as whole insects. They are cleared and well-preserved .

Description. Adult. Occipital protuberance short, as long as wide [ Fig. 17g ]. Antenna with 12 flagellomeres, first and second fused. Palpus 4-segmented, palpiger present [ Fig. 17g ]. Wing: R S reduced to slight thickening on R 5 closer to the arculus than to end of R 1; R 5 slightly curved, joining C posteriad of wing apex; C broken at juncture with R 5 [ Fig. 17d ] Tarsal claws nearly as long as empodia, bent at nearly 90˚ at midlength, widened at distal third, pointed apically, with narrow curved tooth on foreleg only [ Figs 17j, k, l ].

Male. Wing 4.8 mm long, 1.8 mm wide. Flagellomeres binodal, basal node with one whorl of circumfila, distal with two, the loops regular, not reaching next distal circumfilum [ Fig. 17e ]. Terminalia [ Fig. 17f ]: cerci tapered, slightly concave mesally with seta at basal end of concavity, acutely triangular and setose apically; hypoproct narrow, longer than cerci, deeply and widely incised, lobes thin, each bearing single apical seta; aedeagus long, thin, evenly cylindrical, longer than hypoproct and gonocoxite, rounded apically and bearing asetose sensilla; gonocoxite narrow, with obtuse mesobasal lobe; gonostylus long, narrow, setulose basally, carinate beyond, with many setae in carinate area, dense apically.

Female. Wing 5.1 mm long, 1.9 mm wide. Flagellomeres cylindrical, necks slightly less than half as long as nodes [ Fig. 17i ]. Ovipositor short; cerci elongate-ovoid, densely setulose, setose, apically with pair of thick blunt setae; hypoproct setulose, with pair of thick apical setae [ Fig. 17h ].

Biology. Uichanco’s (1919, gall No. 18165, Figs I-1, I-6, VIII-5 [ Figs 17 a–c]) description of the gall is as follows but slightly edited. The gall consists of a superior longitudinal infolding of both margins of leaf blade, with a consequent upward curvature of the affected leaf, and extends from the base to about one-sixth of the leaf length from apex. The margins touch each other tangentially at sides along midrib.Apical and subapical portions of the leaf lamina remain normal. The chambers formed inside the roll are thickly lined with long pubescence. The midrib and lateral veins are abnormally pubescent on the undersurface of the leaf. Adults make their exit at either end.

Remarks. We assign I. paederiae to Eucalyptodiplosis Kolesik (2002) because its male terminalia best fit that genus, which is known from three Australiasian species, two of them on Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) and one on Chionochloa (Poaceae) . Male cerci are tapered so that they appear nearly triangular but are slightly concave mesally with a seta at the basal end of the concavity. That concavity is usually situated across the caudal end of the cerci of the tribe Clinodiplosini . In Eucalyptodiplosis the mesal lobe of the concavity is skewed basad of the lateral lobe, but the single seta on the lower lobe is the tell-tale sign that the genus also belongs to the Clinodiplosini . We should note that E. paederiae has toothed tarsal claws only on the forelegs while the claws of all legs are toothed in the three Australiasian species of the genus ( Kolesik et al. 2002; Kolesik et al. 2007). Considering that Clinodiplosis itself harbors species that may have toothed and untoothed claws and of different shapes ( Gagné 1994 ), the difference in that structure should not disqualify E. paederiae from its present assignment to Eucalyptodiplosis .

Figures

FIGURES 17a–l. Eucalyptodiplosis paederiae: a–c: galls on Paederia foetida, a, the Philippines (cross section, magnified 2x when compared to b, Fig. I-1 of Uichanco (1919)); b, the Philippines (longitudinal section, Fig. I-6 of Uichanco (1919)); c, the Philippines (overall view, Fig. VIII-5 of Uichanco (1919)); d–f male: d, wing; e, 3rd flagellomere; f, terminalia (dorsal); g–l, female: g, head (ventral, arrow indicates occipital protuberance); h, terminalia (ventral); i, 3rd flagellomere; j, tarsal claw on foreleg; k, tarsal claw on midleg; l, tarsal claw on hindleg. Figs 17m–o. Hypodiplosis paederiae: m, galls on Paederia foetida: Fig. 1012 of DvLR & DvL (1926)); n, last two male flagellomeres (Fig. 8 of Kieffer & DvLR (1910)); o, terminalia (dorsal, Fig. 9 of Kieffer & DvLR (1910)).