Cecidomyiidae


Cecidomyiidae is a family of flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls.
Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small insects usually only in length; many are less than long. They are characterised by hairy wings, unusual in the order Diptera, and have long antennae.
More than 6,000 species and 783 genera are described worldwide, but since 1,100 are from well-studied North America, this is certainly an underestimate, and a recent DNA barcoding study estimated the fauna of Canada alone to be in excess of 16,000 species, hinting at a staggering global count of over 1 million cecidomyiid species that have yet to be described, which would make it the most speciose single family in the entire animal kingdom.

Description

Cecidomyiidae are minute to small, rarely larger flies with a delicate appearance. Except for a few genera with reduced wings, the eyes are holoptic. The mouthparts are reduced. Cecidomyiid antennae are notably long, with 12–14 segments,. The antennal segments either consist of a basal thickening and petiole or they are binodal, with a proximal node, an intermediate petiole and a distal node. Basal, medial, and apical whorls of hairs occur on the antennal segments. In some species, whorls of loop-shaped sensory filaments are also found, the basal or medial one sometimes being reduced. Some gall flies have only one whorl of hairs on the antennal segments, and the sensoria. Ocelli are present only in the Lestremiinae. The wings are usually clear, rarely patterned. The wing bears microtrichia, often as scales, and some species have macrotrichia. The number of longitudinal veins is reduced. Only veins R1, R4+5, M3+4 and Cu1 are well developed in most species. The medial veins M1 and M2 are developed only in primitive groups, and the costa usually has a break just beyond vein R5. The legs are long and slender, without apical bristles.
The genitalia of males consist of gonocoxites, gonostyles, aedeagus, and tergites 9 and 10. Lower gall flies often have sclerotized parameres and a more or less transparent plate located above theaedeagus-the tegmen. In higher gall flies, the parameres and tegmen are not developed. In these, instead, close to the aedeagus, is a triangular basal outgrowth of the gonocoxites called the gonosterna. Supporting structures called apodema are located near the base of the genitalia in males; these are often equipped with two outgrowths. The ovipositor is short, lamelliform, or long, mobile, and in some species, acicular.
The larva is peripneustic. The head is tiny, cone-shaped, and has two posterolateral extensions. The mouthparts are reduced, with minute styliform mandibles. The relatively prominent antennae are two-segmented. Integumental setae or papillae are important in taxonomy since they are constant in number within groups. The prothorax has sclerotized sternal spatula. The anus is terminal in the Lestremiinae and paedogenetic in the Porricondylinae and ventral in other groups. The pupa is exarate. The anterior spiracle and anterior angle of antennal bases is prominent.
sp.
 larva

Biology

Many are economically significant, especially the Hessian fly, a wheat pest, as the galls cause severe damage. Other important pests of this family are the wheat blossom midge Sitodiplosis mosellana, the asian rice gall midge and the African rice gall midge O. oryzivora. Other pests are the coffee flower midge, Soybean pod gall midge, pine needle gall midge, the lentil flower midge, the lucerne flower midge, and the alfalfa sprout midge on the Leguminosae; the black locust tree gall midge, the swede midge, and the brassica pod midge on the Cruciferae; the pear midge and the raspberry cane midge on fruit crops; Horidiplosis ficifolii on ornamental figs, and the rosette gall midge on goldenrod stalks, Porricondylini spp. on Citrus, Lestremia spp. on sweet potato, yam, ginger, garlic, onions, taro tubers, and potato, Lestodiplosis spp., Acaroletes spp., and Aphidoletes spp. on oranges, Lestodiplosis spp., Acaroletes spp., and Aphidoletes spp. on oranges, and Arthrocnodax spp. on limes.
A large number of gall midge species are natural enemies of other crop pests. Their larvae are predatory, and some are reported as parasitic. The most common prey are aphids and spider mites, followed by scale insects, then other small prey such as whiteflies and thrips, which eat the eggs of other insects or mites. As the larvae are incapable of moving considerable distances, a substantial population of prey must be present before the adults lay eggs, and the Cecidiomyiidae are most frequently seen during pest outbreaks. One species, Aphidoletes aphidimyza, is an important component of biological control programs for greenhouse crops and is widely sold in the United States. In South Africa, Dasineura rubiformis has been deployed against invasive Australian Acacia species.
Cecidomyiids are also known for the strange phenomenon of paedogenesis in which the larval stage reproduces without maturing first. In some species, the daughter larvae consume the mother, while in others, reproduction occurs later on in the egg or pupa.
Parasitoids hosted by the Cecidomyiidae, thereby limiting the gall midge population include the Braconidae and chalcidoid wasps in the families Eurytomidae, Eulophidae, Torymidae, Pteromalidae, Eupelmidae, Trichogrammatidae, and Aphelinidae. All contain species which are actual or potential biolological agents.

Economic