''Daphnephila'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

gall midge Cecidomyiidae is a family of diptera, flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small in ...

that appears in the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

and

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

biogeographic realm A biogeographic realm is the broadest biogeography, biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial animal, terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivid ...

s. ''Daphnephila'' species create leaf and stem

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

s on species of

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

plants, particularly in ''

Machilus ''Machilus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. It is found in temperate, subtropical, and tropical forest, occurring in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indochina, the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Phili ...

''. Based on analysis on sequences of the

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

cytochrome c oxidase subunit I Cytochrome c oxidase I (COX1) also known as mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase I (MT-CO1) is a protein that is encoded by the ''MT-CO1'' gene in eukaryotes. The gene is also called ''COX1'', ''CO1'', or ''COI''. Cytochrome c oxidase ...

, it has been suggested that in this genus, the stem-galling habit is a more ancestral state as opposed to the leaf-galling habit. ''Daphnephila'' was first described in 1905 by French

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Jean-Jacques Kieffer Jean-Jacques Kieffer (1857 in Guinkirchen – 1925 in Bitche) was a French naturalist and entomologist who specialised in the study of parasitic insects. Educated as a priest, Kieffer taught natural science in Bitche, Lorraine while working ...

. It contains at least nine described species from India, Japan, and Taiwan, and many more

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

are known. The genus appears to have originated tropically and dispersed to Japan through Taiwan.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

'' (Lauraceae) Induced by Five Species of ''Daphnephila'' (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Northeastern Taiwan."Zoological Science 32.3 (2015): 314-321. * Chiang, Tung-Chyuan, and 江東權. "Biosystematics of the galling midge ''Daphnephila'' (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on ''Machilus'' spp.(Lauraceae) in Taiwan." (2012). * Chao, Jo-Fan, and Gwo-Ing Liao. "Histocytological aspects of four types of ambrosia galls on '' Machilus zuihoensis'' Hayata (Lauraceae)." Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 208.3 (2013): 157–164. Diptera of Asia Taxa named by Jean-Jacques Kieffer Taxa described in 1905 Cecidomyiinae Nematocera genera {{Sciaroidea-stub

References

Bibliography

Further reading