Tetraneura ulmi (Linnaeus, 1758)
elm-grass aphid, elm sack gall aphid
on Ulmus, primary host plant
Ulmus glabra, Zeewolde, Harderbos © Hans Jonkman
exaggerated
Ulmus x hollandica, Biddinghuizen, Spijk- en Bremerbergbos © Hans Jonkman: two very young galls in an already extensively disfigured leaf (May 3)
same leaf, eight days later; one of the two galls has been aborted
Ulmus minor, Belgium, prov. Liège, Hergenrath, Hohnbach © Jean-Yves Baugnée; jonge gal
Ulmus minor, Amsterdam, Vliegenbos: openings in the old gall
when the gall is sliced open the inside is hidden by a dense tuft of wax threads
after removal of the wax the winged and apterous aphids are visible
Ulmus, Belgium, prov. Namur, Vierves-sur-Viroin, RN Mine de Barytrine © Stéphane Claerebout
this gall did not contain hardly any wax
Ulmus, Zwolle © Arnold Grosscurt: young (failed?) gall.
underside of the galled region.
Ulmus glabra, Zeewolde, Harderbos © Hans Jonkman: in mid-July the galls are vacated and withered; the leaf itself remains green.
Ulmus glabra, Zeewolde, Harderbos © Hans Jonkman. This picture was taken on August 8th, 2015, at a date that other galls of this species were completely withered: an enigmatic late appearance of the spring generation.
same plant and locality, September 18th!
Ulmus spec., Belgium, prov. Antwerp, Mol © Carina Van Steenwinkel
Ulmus spec., Belgium, prov. Antwerp, Meerhout © Carina Van Steenwinkel
also a gall of T. nigriabdominalis!
Ulmus spec., Loenen, 26.vi.2022 © Arnold Grosscurt: mass occurrence leading to yellowing and precocious leaf drop. “The soil was littered with these infested leaves.”
host plants
Ulmaceae, narrowly monophagous
Ulmus minor, glabra.
Rarely on U. americana, davidiana, laevis.
notes
the effect of the galling extends far beyond the gall itself, as yellow spots at the upperside of the leaf, and as an extensive hairiness at the underside. Possibly this hypophyllous “erineum” has created the suggestion of the work of a gall mite (Buhr’s # 7325 “unresolved gall mite”).
on Poaceae, secondary host plants
gall
From the second half of the summer apterae live on the roots of various grasses. They are 2-3 mm long, pink, orange or purple on colour and covered with a thin iridescent layer of wax-powder. The siphunculi consist of two low cones.
host plants
Poaceae, oligophagous
“Agropyron”, Arrhenatherum elatius; Bromus; Dactylis; Deschampsia; Echinochloa crus-galli; Eragrostis; Festuca ovina; Holcus; Hordeum; Lolium perenne; Phleum pratense; Poa; Schedonorus giganteus; Setaria viridis; Sorghum halepense; Triticum aestivum; Zea mays.
A reference to Anthriscus sylvestris by Wojciechowski ao is improbable.
synonyms
Byrsocrypta ulmi; Byrsocrypta, Kaltenbachiella, personata Börner, 1950.
Tetraneura longisetosa (Dahl, 1912), only known from the roots of Brachypodium, Deschampsia, and Festuca is closely related, and possibly synonymous, with T. ulmi.
references
Albrecht (2015a), Barbagallo, Binazzi, Pennacchio & Pollini (2011a), Barbagallo & Massimino Cocuzza (2014a, 2017a), Béguinot (2001c, 2002d, 2003a, 2006c, 2012a), Bellmann (2012a), Blackman & Eastop. Blanes-Dalmau, Caballero-López & Pujade-Villar (2017a), Braggion (2013a), Börner & Franz (1956a), Buga, Zhorov, Leshchinskaya & Stekolshchikov (2016a), Buhr (1965a), Carter & Danielsson (1993a), Chinery (2011a), Chireceanu, Chiriloaie, Teodoru & Sivu (2015a), Cogolludo (1921a), Coulianos & Holmåsen (1991a), Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Deckert & Deckert (2016a), Dietrich (2016a), Durak, Durak & Borowiak-Sobkowiak (0000a, 2011a), Ecott (2012a), Heie (1980a), Hellrigl (2004a), Houard (1908a), Ilie & Marinescu (2011a), Kollár (2011a), Koops (2013a), Kowalski (2004a), Lambinon & Schneider (2004a), Lampel (1988a), Lampel & Meier (2003a), Lehmann & Flügel (2012a), Lehmann & Hannover (2016a), Mier Durante, Seco Fernández & Nieto Nafría (1989a), Mifsud, Pérez Hidalgo & Barbagallo (2009a), Nieto Nafría & de Benito Dorrego (1976a), Nieto Nafría, Mier Durante, Binazzi & Pérez Hidalgo (2002a), Osiadacz & Wojciechowski (2008a), Pellizzari (2010b), Pérez Hidalgo, Martínez Peláez & Nieto Nafría (2001a), Pérez Hidalgo & Umaran del Campo (2013a), Petrović (1998a), Rakauskas & Trukšinaitė (2011a), Redfern & Shirley (2011a), Ripka, Reider & Szalay-Marzsó (1998a), Roskam (2009a), Salas-Remón, Llimona, Lozano ao (2015a) Stănescu (2009a), Suay Cano & González Funes (1998c), Sylvén (1960a), Tambs-Lyche & Heie (1994a), Tavares (1905a), Tomasi (2003a, 2012a), Walczak, Borowiak-Sobkowiak & Wilkaniec (2017a), Weis (1955a), Wojciechowski, Depa, Halgoš ao (2016a).