Egg-shaped Gumtree Gall - Apiomorpha conica
Family Eriococcidae
This page contains pictures and information about Egg-shaped Gumtree Galls that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
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- Female gall, length 20mm
- Apiomorpha sp., gall length 5-10mm
- Pictures were taken in Karawatha Forest on Oct 2010.
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Adult females are long-lived. Most live over three years as adults and some live over five years. In
contrast, adult males are inconspicuous, short-lived, and restricted seasonal occurrence. Adult males
rarely live more than a day or two after leaving their gall.
- Female induces large woody gall (20-40mm) on stem resembling fruits but not found on that host plant. Males inhabit much smaller galls (no more than 10mm long). Male's tubular galls are mostly found on leaves The shape of the gall is independent of the host-plant species and the host-plant organ on which the gall grows but determined by the species and sex of the scale insect.
- Females are able to produce thousands of offspring over weeks. The body cavity of gravid females is almost entirely filled with developing embryos. They are ovoviviparous and nymphs are born fully developed. The first-instars nymphs usually remain grouped at the base of the gall chamber for up to several days before emerging from the gall. Crawler emergence from different times throughout the year.
- We opened another dry gall which was complete empty.
- Reference:
- 1. A Revision of the Gall-Forming Coccoid Genus Apiomorpha Rubsaamen (Homoptera : Eriococcidae : Apiomorphinae) - P.J. Gullan, Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser., 1984, No. 97, 1-203.
- 2. Species Apiomorpha conica (Froggatt, 1893) - Australian Biological Resources Study, Australian Faunal Directory.
