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Resseliella oleisuga Targioni-Tozzetti
Insecta, Diptera, Cecidomyiidae .

Olive bark midge

Description, Biology, Life Cycle, Damage, Common Names, Images

[R]Description
- Adult: very small (hardly 3 mm long), with moniliform antennae and transparent wings (*) .
The body and appendages are black; abdominal segments are orange in females and grey in males.
- Egg: elliptical, elongate and transparent. Minute (0.25 to 0.30 x 0.05 mm). Eggs are laid in small clusters (groups of 10 to 30) aligned side by side, not stuck together.
- Larva: 3 mm long, whiteish and transparent just after birth it becomes orange-coloured as it nears pupation (*) .
- Pupa: amber yellow to orange, 1.5 to 2.1 mm long.

[R]Biology
- The species appears to be limited to olive. It may develop on other Oleaceae such as filaria (Phillyrea spp.) and ash (Fraxinus spp.).
- Adults arising from overwintering larvae appear in the spring. Their life is brief: 2 to 3 days.
Fertilized females lay their eggs in crevices in the bark.
- Eggs hatch after 3 to 4 days.
- At first, the larvae stay close together. They live as xylophagous insects, forming a kind of burrow in the subcortical tissue (*) .
They pass through 3 instars and pupate after 17 to 20 days.
Prior to pupation, they move outside their gallery and drop to the ground.
- Pupation: lasts 7 to 10 days and takes place in the soil.

[R]Life Cycle
2 to 3 generations each year, lasting about 1 month. The species overwinters in the larval stage.

[R]Damage
Attacks are often localized at the base of branches, causing necrosis of the bark around the oviposition site. Successive attacks eventually kill the branch, the foliage turning brown and any young fruits drying up.
This midge is rarely a harmful pest.

[R]Common Names
DE: Ölbaumrindengallmücke ES: Mosquito de la corteza del olivo FR: Cécidomyie des écorces de l'olivier IT: Cecidomia suggiscorza dell'olivo PT: Mosquito do entrecasco da oliveira GB: Olive bark midge

[R] Images

  1. Resseliella oleisuga Targioni (Coutin R. / OPIE)
    Adult on shoot of olive
  2. Resseliella oleisuga Targioni (Coutin R. / OPIE)
    Larva under bark of twig of olive Part of the bark was removed to show the larvae.
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  3. Resseliella oleisuga Targioni (Coutin R. / OPIE)
    Locations of larval and pupal cells The bark of the twig of olive was raised up to show these locations.
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To read this page in French

HYPPZ on line : Species (scientific name), Pests (common names), Glossary, Crops.

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