Description of the Asian chili pod gall midge, Asphondylia capsicicola sp. n., with comparative notes on Asphondylia gennadii (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) that induces the same sort of pod gall on the same host plant species in the Mediterranean region

Abstract

A new species of the genus Asphondylia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) that infests pods of chili, Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L. (Solanaceae), is described as Asphondylia capsicicola sp. n. based on specimens collected from Indonesia and Vietnam. The new species is similar to Asphondylia gennadii (Marchal) (=Asphondylia capsici) that induces chili pod galls in the Mediterranean region, but is distinguishable from it by the morphological features of pupa such as the nonlinear arrangement of the lower frontal horns, and the narrower longitudinal band of transverse wrinkles on the tergite of the mesothorax. Differences between the two species in the DNA sequencing data were 69 bp (16%) to 77 bp (19%) among 413 bp of the partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I region examined, supporting the morphological identification. This is one of the examples in which two congeners induce the same sort of gall on the same host plant organ and species, which means that the two species are not distinguishable based solely on gall shape and host plant information, unlike many other gall midges.