Cecidomyiidae

Female Catotricha americana, copyright Cathy Wilson.

Belongs within: Sciaroidea.
Contains: Lestremiinae, Porricondylinae, Cecidomyiinae.

The Cecidomyiidae are a group of minute flies commonly known as gall midges though gall-forming members of the family are restricted to the subfamily Cecidomyiinae. Members of the subfamilies Porricondylinae and Cecidomyiinae lack ocelli and have shortened first tarsomeres, distinguishing them from the more plesiomorphic Lestremiinae and Catotricha.

Characters (from Gagné 1981): Tiny fragile flies, 1.0–5.0 mm long, rarely to 8.0 mm. Antenna usually long. Wing veins generally weak, reduced in number; C usually continuous around wing, usually with a break just beyond insertion of R₅. Tibial spurs absent.

<==Cecidomyiidae [Itonididae, Lestremiidae] GJ09
    |--+--Lestremiinae J00
    |  `--+--Porricondylinae J00
    |     `--Cecidomyiinae J00
    `--Catotricha Edwards 1938 [Catotrichinae, Catotrichini] J00
         |--*C. americana (Felt 1908) [=Catocha americana] J00
         |--C. fraterna Jaschhof 2000 J00
         |--C. marinae Mamaev 1985 J00
         |--C. mesozoica Kovalev 1990 RJ93
         |--C. nipponensis (Alexander 1924) [=Catocha nipponensis; incl. Catotricha antennata Alexander 1959] J00
         |--C. subobsoleta (Alexander 1924) [=Catocha subobsoleta] J00
         `--C. subterranea Mamaev 1985 J00

Cecidomyiidae incertae sedis:
  Endopsylla A71
  Procontarinia B88
    |--P. echinogalliperda B88
    `--P. matteiana B88
  Orseolia oryzae B88
  Mycocecis ovalis B88
  Olesicoccus coccidivora G81
  Bruggmanniella perseae P09
  Tetradiplosis GJ09
  Karshomyia GJ09
  Calmonia GJ09
  Ipomyia CM91
  Trishormomyia helianthi W70
  Clinorhytis F56
  Dasyneura F56
    |--D. abiesemia Foote 1956 F56
    |--D. mali H74
    `--D. ulmariae RD77
  Phytophaga carpophaga Tripp 1955 F56
  Janetiella siskiyou Felt 1917 F56
  Retinodiplosis F56
  Itonida F56
  Coccodiplosis smithi O98
  Rhinomyia perplexa RD77
  Chortomyia RD77
  Xylodiplosis praecox RD77
  Dryomyia RD77

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[B88] Bouček, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB International: Wallingford (UK).

[CM91] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1991. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 717–786. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[F56] Foote, R. H. 1956. Gall midges associated with cones of western forest trees (Diptera: Itonididae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 46 (2): 48–57.

[G81] Gagné, R. J. 1981. Cecidomyiidae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 257–292. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[GJ09] Gagné, R. J., & M. Jaschhof. 2009. Cecidomyiidae (gall midges). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 293–314. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[H74] Helson, G. A. H. 1974. Insect Pests: Identification, life history, and control of pests of farms, horticulture, gardens, and public health. A. R. Shearer, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[J00] Jaschhof, M. 2000. Catotrichinae subfam. n.: a re-examination of higher classification in gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Entomological Science 3: 639–652.

[O98] Oosterbroek, P. 1998. The Families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago. Brill: Leiden.

[P09] Pape, T. 2009. Economic importance of Diptera. In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 65–77. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.

[W70] White, M. J. D. 1970. Cytogenetics. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 72–82. Melbourne University Press.

Last updated: 31 January 2021.