Apiomorpha

Apiomorpha
Apiomorpha conica
galls of 3 adult females.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily: Coccoidea
Family: Eriococcidae
Genus: Apiomorpha
Rübsaamen
species

See text

Apiomorpha is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of Eucalyptus. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by females are among the largest and most spectacular of arthropod-induced galls whereas those of males are small and most are tubular.[1] Apiomorpha is known only from Australia and New Guinea although its host, Eucalyptus, has a wider distribution into Indonesia as well.

Apiomorpha is currently classified in the Eriococcidae,[2] but this family is not monophyletic.[3]

Morphology

Adult female of Apiomorpha alongside a winged adult male on a pin

Like other scale insects, Apiomorpha is highly sexually dimorphic.[1] Adult females are wingless, have very small (or no) eyes, and their legs are short and stubby. A female remains within the gall she initiated when a crawler, mating through the small apical opening of her gall. She reproduces inside the gall and her tiny offspring (≤ 0.4 mm) escape through the same small opening. Adult females of Apiomorpha can range in length from 2 mm to 45 mm, depending on species, and can live up to five years as adults.[4] In contrast, adult males of Apiomorpha are small (about 1 mm in length) and winged. Like males of other eriococcids, they do not have a mouth and, instead, have an extra pair of eyes on the underside of their head (i.e., they have four eyes, two on top and two underneath). Males leave their galls as adults and search for females. They are weak fliers and typically walk on their host plant looking for females before taking to the air. After leaving their gall, adult males only live about one day.[4]

Species

  • Apiomorpha amarooensis
  • Apiomorpha annulata
  • Apiomorpha attenuata
  • Apiomorpha baeuerleni
  • Apiomorpha calycina
  • Apiomorpha conica
  • Apiomorpha cucurbita
  • Apiomorpha densispinosa[1]
  • Apiomorpha dipsaciformis
  • Apiomorpha duplex
  • Apiomorpha excupula
  • Apiomorpha frenchi
  • Apiomorpha gullanae[5]
  • Apiomorpha helmsii
  • Apiomorpha hilli
  • Apiomorpha intermedia[1]
  • Apiomorpha karschi
  • Apiomorpha longiloba
  • Apiomorpha macqueeni
  • Apiomorpha maliformis
  • Apiomorpha malleeacola[1]
  • Apiomorpha minor
  • Apiomorpha munita
  • Apiomorpha nookara[6]
  • Apiomorpha ovicola
  • Apiomorpha ovicoloides
  • Apiomorpha pedunculata
  • Apiomorpha pharetrata
  • Apiomorpha pileata (type species)
  • Apiomorpha pomaphora[7]
  • Apiomorpha regularis
  • Apiomorpha rosaeformis
  • Apiomorpha sessilis
  • Apiomorpha sloanei
  • Apiomorpha spinifer
  • Apiomorpha strombylosa
  • Apiomorpha subconica
  • Apiomorpha tepperi[1]
  • Apiomorpha thorntoni
  • Apiomorpha urnalis
  • Apiomorpha variabilis
  • Apiomorpha withersi

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Aust. J. Zool. Suppl. Ser. 97:1-203. doi:10.1071/AJZS097
  2. ↑ Miller, D. & Ben-Dov, Y. 2005. ScaleNet
  3. ↑ Cook, L.G., Gullan, P.J. & Trueman, H.E. 2002. A preliminary phylogeny of the scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) based on nuclear small-subunit ribosomal DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 25(1): 43-52. DOI: 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00248-8
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cook, L. G. and P. J. Gullan. 2001. Longevity and reproduction in Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea). Bollettino di Zoologia agraria e Bachicoltura 33:259-265.
  5. ↑ Cook, Lyn G (2003). "Apiomorpha gullanae sp. n., an unusual new species of gall-inducing scale insect (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae)". Australian Journal of Entomology 42 (4): 327–333. doi:10.1046/j.1440-6055.2003.00370.x. ISSN 1326-6756.
  6. ↑ Mills P.J., Macdonald M.L., Rigby L.M. & Cook L.G. (2011). A recently discovered species of Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) with unusual gall morphology. Zootaxa, 3093, 55-63.
  7. ↑ Gullan P.J. & Jones M.G. (1989). A new species of gall-forming coccoid (Insecta: Homoptera: Eriococcidae) from Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum. 14, 321-329.