Species Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt, 1898
- Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370-379 [376].
Ecological Descriptors
Sap-feeder.
GENERAL
Detailed description and illustrations of male and female adults, first-instar nymphs and galls by Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379.
BIOLOGY
When host is slightly infested, the galls are large and regular in form, varying from pale green to brown, but when numerous, they twist the foliage and twigs into an irregular mass as large as a man's head, and it is tinted with red and brown (see Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379).
STRUCTURE
Female gall slender, thorn or spur shaped, springing from an enlarged growth or swelling upon the branchlet, broadest at the base, curving round at the tip. Female is minute and pear shaped, purplish-brown. Adult female is black and irregular. Male gall is smooth, blunt cylindrical and tube shaped; brightly tinted with red or pink, often growing in a regular row. Adult male is brown, testaceous, with ochreous tints upon the abdomen (see Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379).