Abstract
Morphological studies were carried out to determine whether females of the boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus buxi (Laboulbene) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) have a pheromone gland, its position and ultra-structure. In addition, the reproductive behav- iour of this gall midge was studied in the laboratory in a wind-tunnel. The source of the sex pheromone was identified as the epi- dermis of the inter-segmental membrane between the 8 th and 9 th abdominal segments of females. The epidermis there was hypertrophied and consisted of a unicellular layer of secretory cells with ultra-structural features that include a well developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complexes that are typical of pheromone-producing glands. At adult emergence the sex ratio was 1 : 1. The virgin females extruded their ovipositor and moved it slowly (visible using a video-camera at high magnification), which was followed by mating. The females were monogamous, while the males usually mated several times with different females. Wind-tunnel bioassays using virgin females, ovipositor-ectomised virgins and mated females provided further evidence that virgin females produce a sex pheromone.
Highlights
The boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus buxi (Laboulbène) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is a serious pest of boxwood in nature, gardens and plant nurseries
Several morphological and behavioural features of the reproductive biology of gall midges indicate an important role for chemical communication, especially as all gall midges reproduce sexually (Gagné, 1994; Hall et al, 2012)
The existence of a sex pheromone gland is documented currently for only four species of gall midges, three phytophagous (Solinas & Isidoro, 1991, 1996; Isidoro et al, 1992) and one zoophagous species. In all of these species, the females have a soft, tapered, telescopic and flexible ovipositor, which is made up of the last three abdominal segments and the sex pheromone gland of the female is located in the epidermis of the inter-segmental membrane that connects the 8th and 9th abdominal segments
Summary
The boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus buxi (Laboulbène) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is a serious pest of boxwood in nature, gardens and plant nurseries. The females of this gall midge have a hard (sclerified), short and hook-like ovipositor that is used to insert eggs into the tissues of young boxwood leaves. Infested plants often attract predatory birds that rip open the galls to eat the larvae. This collateral damage can result in greater damage than that caused by the leafminer (Batdorf, 1994)
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