''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...

that induces

galls 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, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

on species of ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

''. Galls are initiated by first-

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...

(crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Those induced by females are among the largest and most spectacular of

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

-induced galls whereas those of males are small and most are tubular.Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus ''Apiomorpha'' Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Aust. J. Zool. Suppl. Ser. 97:1-203. doi:10.1071/AJZS097 ''Apiomorpha'' is known only from Australia and New Guinea although its host, ''Eucalyptus'', has a wider distribution into Indonesia as well. ''Apiomorpha'' is currently classified in the

Eriococcidae Eriococcidae is a family of scale insects in the order Hemiptera. They are commonly known as felt scales or eriococcids. Each species is usually specific to a different plant host, or closely related group of hosts. Recent research using ribosom ...

, but this family is not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

Morphology

Like other scale insects, ''Apiomorpha'' is highly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Adult females are wingless, have very small (or no) eyes, and their legs are short and stubby. A female remains within the gall she initiated when a crawler, mating through the small apical opening of her gall. She reproduces inside the gall and her tiny offspring (≤ 0.4 mm) escape through the same small opening. Adult females of ''Apiomorpha'' can range in length from 2 mm to 45 mm, depending on species, and can live up to five years as adults. In contrast, adult males of ''Apiomorpha'' are small (about 1 mm in length) and winged. Like males of other eriococcids, they do not have a mouth and, instead, have an extra pair of eyes on the underside of their head (i.e., they have four eyes, two on top and two underneath). Males leave their galls as adults and search for females. They are weak fliers and typically walk on their host plant looking for females before taking to the air. After leaving their gall, adult males only live about one day.

Species

* ''

Apiomorpha amarooensis ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * '' Apiomorpha annulata'' * ''

Apiomorpha attenuata ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha baeuerleni ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha calycina ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha conica ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha cucurbita ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha densispinosa ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha dipsaciformis ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * ''

Apiomorpha duplex ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Those induced by f ...

'' * '' Apiomorpha excupula'' * '' Apiomorpha floralis'' * '' Apiomorpha frenchi'' * '' Apiomorpha gongylocarpae'' * ''Apiomorpha gullanae'' * ''

Apiomorpha helmsii ''Apiomorpha'' is a genus of scale insect that induces galls on species of ''Eucalyptus''. Galls are initiated by first-instar Nymph (biology), nymphs (crawlers) on new plant growth and, when mature, the galls exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10415647 Eriococcidae Gall-inducing insects Hemiptera of Australia Sternorrhyncha genera