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
Apiomorpha conica
galls of 3 adult females.
Scientific classification
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Apiomorpha

Rübsaamen
species

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

Morphology edit

 
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 edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Archived 2013-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Lyn G Cook; Penny J Gullan; Holly E Trueman (1 October 2002). "A preliminary phylogeny of the scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) based on nuclear small-subunit ribosomal DNA" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 25 (1): 43–52. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00248-8. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 12383749. Wikidata Q52599872.
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ Froggatt, W. W. (1898). "Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V." Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 23: 370–379. ISSN 1839-7263.
  6. ^ a b Penelope J. Mills; Penny J. Gullan; Lyn G. Cook (7 April 2017). "Nomenclatural changes in the Australasian gall-inducing genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Eriococcidae)". Zootaxa. 4250 (5): 484–488. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4250.5.6. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 28610004. Wikidata Q29390869.
  7. ^ a b Penelope J. Mills; Thomas L. Semple; Kathleen L. S. Garland; Lyn G. Cook (2016). "Two recently discovered species of Apiomorpha (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae) feeding on eudesmid eucalypts in Western Australia reaffirm host conservatism in this gall-inducing scale insect genus". Invertebrate Systematics. 30 (3): 255. doi:10.1071/IS15039. ISSN 1445-5226. Wikidata Q65923937.
  8. ^ Lyn G Cook (November 2003). "Apiomorpha gullanae sp. n., an unusual new species of gall-inducing scale insect (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae)". Austral Entomology. 42 (4): 327–333. doi:10.1046/J.1440-6055.2003.00370.X. ISSN 1326-6756. Wikidata Q67239966.
  9. ^ PENELOPE J. MILLS; MELANIE L. MACDONALD; LISA M. RIGBY; LYN G. COOK (8 November 2011). "A recently discovered species of Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) with unusual gall morphology". Zootaxa. 3093 (1): 55–63. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.3093.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334. Wikidata Q97569495.
  10. ^ Schrader, H. L. (1863). "Observations on certain gall-making Coccidae of Australia". Transactions of the Entomological Society of New South Wales. 1: 1–6. ISSN 1321-6244.
  11. ^ 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.