Beech gall mosquito
| Beech gall mosquito | ||||||||||||
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Gallen on beech leaves |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Mikiola fagi | ||||||||||||
| Hartig , 1839 |
The Buchengallmücke ( Mikiola fagi ), and Large Buchenblattgallmücke called, is a kind of gall midges and in Europe home. It is a different species than the gall gnat Hartigiola annulipes , which also lives on beech and is sometimes referred to as the beech gall gnat .
features
The small, inconspicuous mosquitoes reach a body length of 4–5 mm and are brown-black in color. The abdomen of the males is yellow-brown, that of the females is reddish. More conspicuous than the adult animals, however, are the lemon-shaped, 3–12 mm long, hard-walled galls in which the fully grown 4 mm long, white larvae live. Young larvae can only be seen with a magnifying glass. The galls are initially pale green, but later in development they become yellowish or noticeably red.
distribution and habitat
The species lives in large parts of Europe in the growing area of the common beech ( Fagus sylvatica ). The galls are often found in groups close together on the top of beech leaves. The species is mostly common in the distribution area of the common beech. The edges of beech forests are preferred as habitat.
The species was introduced in North America.
Way of life
The full-grown mosquitoes hatch at the end of March and fly between March and May. The females cover the youngest beech leaves with eggs while they are unfolding. Each female lays 200-300 red-colored eggs, about 0.3 mm in size, individually on the leaf buds of the beech with her laying tube. The young larva causes the beech leaf to form a bile in which it lives on nutrient tissue (leaf tissue) through the secretion of chemical substances. When the bile forms, a wall is created around the larva, which then closes. In October, the galls separate from the leaves at a predetermined breaking point, fall to the ground and hibernate there in the litter. The larvae pupate at the beginning of March and hatch as adult mosquitoes after 2–3 weeks. There is a mass occurrence every 7-10 years. This can lead to fluctuations caused by competing species of hymenoptera living parasitically . The beech gall mosquito does not cause any visible harmful effects.
Literature and sources
- Eva & Wolfgang Dreyer: The cosmos forest guide 3rd edition. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 978-3-440-09057-2 , p. 185.
- Ursula Stichmann-Marny, Wilfried Stichmann, Eric Kretzschmar: The new cosmos animal and plant guide. With special section: Vacation areas of Europe 4th edition. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 978-3-440-08041-2 , p. 202.
- Jiří Zahradník: The Cosmos Insect Guide 6th edition. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-440-09388-3 , p. 296.
Web links
- Buchengallmücke at: insektenbox.de, Wilfried Funk 2007–2020, accessed on October 1, 2020.
- Buchengallmücke on: ARBOFUX - Diagnostic and factual database for trees, accessed on October 1, 2020th
- Buchengallmücke at: wirbellose.at, administered by the Society for the Mapping of Invertebrates in Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein (KdW), accessed on October 1, 2020.