Lasioptera farinosa

Cecidomyia farinosa
Diplosis farinosa

Gall.--Irregularly rounded and situated on the underside of the midrib or on the petiole at the base of the leaflet of blackberry (Rubus villosus). It is covered with a farinaceous powder and when fresh is rather soft and fleshy, but becomes hard and woody when old. Inside are several cells inhabited by the larvae. These overwinter in the gall and the adults emerge in May and early June. The gall measures from 6 to 12 mm in diameter.

Habitat: NY; NJ; NC; Canada

This species was known heretofore only by the gall described very briefly by Osten Sacken. It is quite common locally in the vicinity of New York City and may be distinguished easily from Lasioptera nodulosa, with which it has been confounded by certain writers. L farinosa always occurs on the leaves and petiole of the blackberry while L nodulosa is a gouty swelling on the stems of this plant.

- William Beutenmuller: (1907) New species of gall-producing cecidomyidae^©