The Chenopodiaceae-feeding gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of the Na’aman salt marsh, Israel
Author
Dorchin, Netta
Author
Freidberg, Amnon
text
Zootaxa
2008
1937
1
22
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.184984
646cfc6f-1d9a-48af-9994-51efa351d71b
1175-5326
184984
Genus
Stefaniola
Kieffer, 1913
Stefaniola
is the largest genus of
Lasiopterini
, with 108 described species (
Gagné 2004
) and many undescribed species, all of which develop in plants of the
Chenopodiaceae
in Central Asia and the Mediterranean basin. The usually small and stout adults superficially resemble those of the related genus
Careopalpis
, from which they differ in the morphology of the ovipositor. The shape of the ovipositor in
Stefaniola
is highly diverse, but the aculeus is always curved dorsally rather than ventrally, often conspicuously long, and the apical lamella is variously shaped, sometimes with additional protruding lobes. The shape of the lateral plate and its setae are likewise diverse among species. Apical antennal flagellomeres are sometimes fused, and number of flagellomeres may vary within the same species and individual. Palpus is one-segmented. Larvae lack a spatula. Many species are known only from their galls and larvae (
Möhn 1971
).