Asphondylia punica Marchal, 1897

on Atriplex

Asphondylia punica galls

gall (from Houard, 1908a)

gall

The leaves of the stem tip are densely, imbricately, compressed. The stem inside is stunted and swollen to a very hard, fusiform gall that bears a number of protuberances, each containing a gall chamber. Larva solitary, orange.

host plants

Amaranthaceae, monophagous

Atriplex halimus.

synonyms

Asphondylia punica, described from Tunisia, is synonymised by Dorchin ao with A. conglomerata de Stefani, 1900, described from Sicily, mainly on the base of a strong similarity of the galls of both species. However, Kieffer’s (1901a,b) pictures of the spatulas of both species are quite different. Although Kieffer doesn’t specify the source of his material, this puts the synonymy in some doubt.
According to Houard both species cause a galling of the inflorescence, but only conglomerata causes galling of the leaf buds, consisting of small unilocular gall set with small leaves, either solitary or in a ± globular mass.

Asphondylia conglomerata: spatula

spatula van A. conglomerata (from Kieffer, 1901a)

Asphondylia punica: spatula

spatula van A. punica (from Kieffer, 1901a)

parasitoids, predators

Neochrysocharis violacea; Torymus phillyreae, halimi.

references

Askew, Blasco-Zumeta & Pujade-Villar (2001a); Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Doğanlar & Elsayed (2013a), Dorchin, Mifsud & Askew (2014a), Elsayed, Skuhravá, Karam ao (2015a), Houard (1906a, 1908a), Kieffer (1901a,b,c), Marchal (1897a), Skuhravá, Blasco-Zumeta & Skuhravý (1993a), Skuhravá & Skuhravý (1994a, 1997b, 2021a: 46), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Blasco-Zumeta & Pujade-Villar (2006a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Dauphin & Coutin (2005a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Elsayed (2014a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Blasco-Zumeta & Pujade-Villar (2006a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Kettani (2017a), de Stefani (1900a).