The gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of <I>Acacia</I> spp. (Mimosaceae) in Kenya

Abstract

Twenty-eight new species of plant-feeding Cecidomyiidae are described from galls taken on five species of Acacia in Kenya. The new species are placed in seven genera, four of them new. The new taxa, to be attributed to Gagne, are as follows, in bold face: in Acacidiplosis: ananas, cespitosa, conica, crispa, echinata, erupta, hamata, imbricata, ramosa, rugosa, spinosa, undulata, and verticillata; in Aposchizomyia: acuta, brevis, crenata, longa, striata, and turnouri; Asphondylia napiformis; in Athidiplosis: bullata and walteri; in Contarinia: carolinae, hongoi, and plicata, Kimadiplosis diversa, in Lopesia. niloticae and armata. The larvae, pupae, and the host-specific galls of these species generally offer the best characters for species discrimination. Galls of several additional species of gall midges from Acacia spp. in Kenya are described, but the gall makers are left unnamed for lack of suitable specimens. Collula acaciae (Kieffer 1912) is shown to be a junior homonym of Collula acaciae (Kieffer 1909) and is renamed kiefferi. Gail midges from acacias in Africa, India, and Australia are reviewed. Cecidomyia acaciaelongifoliae Skuse (1890) from Australia is newly combined in Dasineura. Two of the new species, Acacidiplosisspinosa and Aposehizomyiaacula, inhibit flowering of Acacia nilotica and are potential biological control agents of their host in Australia.