Asphondylia gennadiI (Marchal)

Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Holometabola, Diptera, Nematocera, Cecidomyiidae.

Common name: Carob midge.

Geographical distribution: The Mediterranean region.
Host plants: Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.).

Morphology: The body of the adult is black, about 5 mm in length, the antennae have 14 segments. The [larva] is orange light in color.

Life cycle: The female places its eggs in young carob pods, and the hatched larvae feed inside, pupating there. Three generations or more are raised annually.

Economic importance: Infestations result in shriveled fruits that may drop prematurely.

Management

Horticultural methods: Destroying the infested fruits.

Biological control: Two endoparasitoids attack the pest: the eulophid Sigmophora brevicornis (Panzer) and the eurytomid Eurytoma dentate Mayr.

References

Harris, K. 1975. The taxonomic status of the carob gall midge, Asphondylia gennadii (Marchal), comb. n. (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae), and of other Asphondylia species recorded from Cyprus. Bulletin of Entomological Research 65: 377-380.

G. M. Orphanides 1975 Biology of the carob midge complex, Asphondylia_ spp. (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae), in Cyprus. Bulletin of Entomological Research 65: 381-390.