Celticecis pyriformis Gagne, new species

Unnamed species, Riley 1890

Hosts: Celtis occidentalis

Gall.--Attached singly or serially to more prominent leaf veins on underside of leaf, occasionally adjacent galls partially fused; generally cylindrical, becoming bulbous at base, upright to recumbent, apex flat except for short central nipple; green turning yellow, sparsely to densely covered with long, crinkly white hair of variable length; 3–4 mm long and 2–3 mm broad at base; connection to vein conspicuous, often causing swelling of vein nearby and appearing as a convexity on opposite side of leaf; mature gall in cross section woody, wall of uniform thickness or thickest basally and thinning beyond mid-length, larval chamber elongate ovoid, nearly as long as gall.

Affinities. — See discussion under C. pubescens. [C pubescens and two others, C. pyriformis and C. wellsi, appear to be related. All three cause upright, columnar, woody, more or less hairy leaf galls that are attached to veins, Celticecis globosa may also be related to these three. The gall of C. globosa is also upright and woody but the larval chamber is ovoid instead of columnar and the larva itself is flatter and more deeply sulcate between segments.]

Biological note.--In Maryland galls were first found in early June already with yellow second instars. By mid-July some galls contained either second or third instars and in mid-August larvae were in the third instar and the larval chambers were lined with silk. Once, at Falling Waters, West Virginia, a gall contained a predaceous Lestodiplosis larva feeding on the C. pyriformis larva. A hole was present at the base of the gall, but it is doubtful that the Lestodiplosis made the hole.

Distribution (Map 15). — This species is known only from northern hackberry and has a northerly U.S. distribution, from Kansas to Maryland.

KS, KY, MD, IL, MO, OH, WV

- Raymond J. Gagne, John C. Moser: (2013) The North American Gall Midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of Hackberries (Cannabaceae: Celtis spp.)^©

Reference: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51467028#page/37/mode/1up