Fergusonina
| Fergusonina | |
|---|---|
| |
| Outline | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Fergusoninidae |
| Genus: | Fergusonina Malloch, 1924 |
Fergusonina is a genus of gall-forming flies and is the sole member of the family Fergusoninidae. There are about 40 species in the genus, all of them producing galls on Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Corymbia, and Metrosideros[1] species (all in the family Myrtaceae) in Australia and New Zealand.
These flies, considered closely related to Agromyzidae, are small and their larvae grow within galls formed on the leaf, shoot or flower buds. The galls themselves are induced by endosymbiotic nematodes in the genus Fergusobia (family Neotylenchidae) which are obligate mutualists of the flies. Females carry the nematode to new hosts. Most of the fly species are specific to their tree hosts but a few use more than one species of host.[2][3][4]
References
- ^ Taylor, Gary; Davies, Kerrie; Martin, Nicholas; Crosby, Trevor (2007). "First record of Fergusonina (Diptera: Fergusoninidae) and associated Fergusobia (Tylenchida: Neotylenchidae) forming galls on Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) from New Zealand". Systematic Entomology. 32 (3): 548–557. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2007.00383.x.
- ^ Nelson, Leigh A.; Davies, Kerrie A.; Scheffer, Sonja J.; Taylor, Gary S.; Purcell, Matthew F.; Giblin-Davis, Robin M.; Thornhill, Andrew H.; Yeates, David K. (2014). "An emerging example of tritrophic coevolution between flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae) and nematodes (Nematoda: Neotylenchidae) on Myrtaceae host plants". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 111 (4): 699–718. doi:10.1111/bij.12237.
- ^ Taylor, Gary S. (2004). "Revision of Fergusonina Malloch gall flies (Diptera : Fergusoninidae) from Melaleuca (Myrtaceae)". Invertebrate Systematics. 18 (3): 251. doi:10.1071/IS02033.
- ^ Scheffer, S.J.; Davies, K.A.; Taylor, G.S.; Thornhill, A.H.; Lewis, M.L.; Winkler, I.S.; Yeates, D.K.; Purcell, M.F.; Makinson, J.; Giblin-Davis, R.M. (2017). "Phylogenetics of Australasian gall flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae): Evolutionary patterns of host-shifting and gall morphology". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 115: 140–160. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.07.023. PMID 28757445.
External links
- Purcell, Michaela (2017) Phylogeny and host relationships of the Australian gall-inducing fly Fergusonina Malloch (Diptera: Fergusoninidae). Australian National University. PhD thesis.
- Head, Elise (2008) Ecology of the Fergusonina fly and Fergusobia nematode gall association in South Australia. University of Adelaide. MSc thesis.