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Lasioptera rubi

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Lasioptera rubi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Cecidomyiidae
Genus: Lasioptera
Species:
L. rubi
Binomial name
Lasioptera rubi
(Schrank, 1803)
Synonyms[1]
  • Tipula rubi Schrank, 1803

Lasioptera rubi (also known as the raspberry gall midge) is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae and is found in Europe. It was first described in 1803 by the German priest, botanist and entomologist, Franz von Paula Schrank. The larvae feed within the tissue of brambles, creating abnormal plant growths known as galls.

Description

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In the early summer the gall midge lays a cluster of up to forty eggs in young bramble shoots. Rapid cell growth of the tissue creates a rounded swelling of 5 x 2  cm in the stem, which sometimes has longitudinal fissures, and contains several irregular cavities with larvae. The cavities are lined with fungal mycelium on which the larvae feed. When young the larvae are white, and later in the summer and winter are orange-red. Usually the gall develops on one side of the shoot, but occasionally spreads to the other side. Initially the gall is green, but changes to reddish-brown as it matures. Larvae pupate the following spring and the adults emerge in the spring. Sometimes the gall is in a leaf petiole.[2][3]

Lasioptera rubi galls have been found on the following species;[4]

Similar species

Galls of the gall wasp, Diastrophus rubi, are elongate (2–15 cm long and circa 1 cm wide) compared with the gall of Lasioptera rubi, which is rounded (5 x 2  cm).[3]

Lasioptera rubi gall

Distribution

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The fly has been recorded in 24 European countries, from Ireland. France and Spain in the west, to Finland, Ukraine and Russia in the east.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lasioptera rubi (Schrank, 1803)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  2. ^ Chinery, Michael (2011). Britain's Plant Galls. Old Basing, Hampshire: WildGuides Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 978-190365743-0.
  3. ^ a b Redfern, Margaret; Shirley, Peter; Bloxham, Michael (2011). British Plant Galls (Second ed.). Shrewsbury: FSC Publications. pp. 275–6. ISBN 978-1-85153-284-1.
  4. ^ Ellis, W N. "Lasioptera rubi (Schrank, 1803) raspberry gall midge". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 24 January 2022.