Species Apiomorpha variabilis (Froggatt, 1893)
- Brachyscelis variabilis Froggatt, W.W. 1893. Notes on the family Brachyscelidae, with some account of their parasites, and descriptions of new species. Part I. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 7: 353-378 [364].
Ecological Descriptors
Sap-feeder.
ID Keys
(Gullan, P.J., 1984) [10] (adult; Adult females and female galls of Apiomorpha)
GENERAL
Detailed description and photograph of female galls and description and illustration of adult female by Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 97: 1–203.
BIOLOGY
Female gall is produced on stems of host plant (see Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 97: 1–203).
SYSTEMATICS
Slide-mounted adult female is characterized by having: abdominal segment IX longer ventrally than dorsally; abdomen attenuate not curvilinearly tapered to base of anal lobes; anal ring not concealed by sclerotized shield; anal lobes not papillose; ventral spine-like setae never in complete row across segment VIII and absent from segment IX; hind legs >1200 µ long; 9-locular pores not predominant on body; venter without spine-like setae (see Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 97: 1–203).
STRUCTURE
Female gall large and pyriform, woody, truncate to rounded apex, structurally complex. Male gall is unknown (see Gullan, P.J. 1984. A revision of the gall-forming coccoid genus Apiomorpha Rübsaamen (Homoptera: Eriococcidae: Apiomorphinae). Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 97: 1–203).