Odinadiplosis amygdali (Anagnostopoulos)
Common name: Almond bud gall midge.
Systematic position: Insecta, Holometabola, Diptera, Nematocera, Cecidomyiidae.
Distribution: Turkey, Lebanon and Greece.
Morphology: Adults blackish, with a brown thorax, about 2-2.5 mm long, legs brownish. Antennae with 14 segments. Larva about 2 mm in length, yellow-white, without an obvious spatula.
Host plant: Almond.
Life history: Odinadiplosis amygdali is univoltine. In early spring the female places its eggs in the host’s buds. The development of the emerging larva causes the infested bud to produce flower-like galls that increase in size as the larvae grow. The fully- grown larvae spend the winter in diapause inside the galls on almond twigs, emerging in spring.
Economic importance: This midge is a serious pest of almonds in Turkey and Greece, preferring and severely damaging its early cultivars. Infestation levels may come to 30-54%.
Management
Horticultural method: Removal and destruction of the infested twigs that carry the galls.
Biological control: Several hymenopteorus parasitoids attack the pest in Turkey, and are considered to be its the main mortality factors. These include Synopeas talhouki (Platygastridae) and Baryscapus oophagus (Otten) (Eulophidae).
References
Doğanlar, M. 2012. Hatay İlinde Badem tomurcuk gal sineği, Odinadiplosis amygdali (Anagnostopoulos, 1929) (Diptera, Cecidomyidae)’nin parazitoitleri ve ekonomik önemi. Turkish Bulletin of Entomology 2: 233-242 (in Turkish with an English abstract).
Nijveldt, W. and Talhouk, A.S. 1976. Contributions to the knowledge of almond pests in East Mediterranean countries. IV. Notes on morphology, biology and importance of Odinadiplosis amygdali (Anag.) (Dipt., Cecidomyidae). Journal of Applied Entomology 80: 325–334.
Vlug, H.J. 1976. Synopeas talhouki n.sp. (Hym. Platygastridae), a parasite of Odinadiplosis amygdali (Anagnostopoulos) (Dipt. Cecidomyidae) with notes on its distribution and biology. Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Entomologie 80: 262-266.