''Rabdophaga jaapi'' is a species of gall midges which forms

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

s on creeping willow (''

Salix repens ''Salix repens'', the creeping willow, is a small, shrubby species of willow in the family Salicaceae, growing up to 1.5metres in height. Found amongst sand dunes and heathlands, it is a polymorphic species, with a wide range of variants. In ...

'').

Description

The gall is an enlarged bud on ''S. repens''. It is surrounded with small thickened leaves which have short silver-white hairs. Correct identification of the species of ''Salix'' is important for the identification of ''R. jaapi'', because it is similar to ''R. rosariella'', which forms galls on sallows. The gall of ''R. jaapi'' can also be positively identified by the single reddish-yellow larva which has a sternal spatula, i.e. ″''... a structure on the underside of the thorax of the final (third) instar larva of Cecidomyiidae...''″. The species has one generation a year (i.e. univoltine) and the larva hibernates in the gall where it pupates.

Distribution

Has been found in Denmark and Great Britain.

Notes

References

jaapi Jaapi or Japi (Assamese: জাপি) is a traditional conical hat from Assam, India similar to other Asian conical hats is made from tightly woven bamboo and/or cane and ''tokou paat'' (Trachycarpus martianus) a large, palm leaf. The word ' ...

Nematoceran flies of Europe Gall-inducing insects Insects described in 1916 Taxa named by Ewald Heinrich Rübsaamen Willow galls {{Bibionomorpha-stub