Lasioptera donacis Coutin & Faivre-Amiot, 1981
on Arundo
Arundo donax, France, Camargue, ii.2021 © Sébastien Carbonnelle
detail
larva with spatula
the tiny emergence openings
gall
orange-brown larvae live communally in galleries filled with a brown mycelium in the leaf sheaths. Pupation in the gall, in a silken cocoon. After emergence of the adult midges, the exuvia remain protruding from the exit openings.
hostplants
Poaceae, monophagous
Arundo donax.
synonyms
according to Skuhravá & Skuhravý (2004b) the name by Coutin & Faivre-Amiot, 1981 is a nomen nudum, and the correct species name is Lasioptera donacis Coutin, 2001. However, here the Fauna Europaea (2016) is followed.
notes
Thomas & Goolsby present a very detailed description of the larvae. The observation by Skuhravá & Skuhravý (2004b) that the larvae would live in old galleries of Cerodontha phragmitophila is not confirmed by them. However, they write that groups of eggs are deposited in “preexisting holes”.
references
Gagné (2010a), Goolsby, Vacek, Salinas, ao (2017a), Sánchez (2016a), Skuhravá & Skuhravý (1997b, 2004b, 2009b, 2021a: 41), Skuhravá, Skuhravý, Dauphin & Coutin (2005a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Ebejer (2002a), Skuhravá, Skuhravý & Elsayed (2014a), Thomas & Goolsby (2015a).