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GALL RECORDER’S REPORT FOR 2024 INCLUDING A FIRST SUFFOLK RECORD OF CONTARINIA ANTHOBIA (LÖW) (DIPTERA: CECIDOMYIIDAE) JERRY BOWDREY The consensus amongst various invertebrate specialists seems to be that 2024 has been a poor year for many species. In Suffolk, this is definitely the case for those that induce galls. As a consequence, one of the wettest winters on record has meant that only one new species was added to the Suffolk list of gall inducers. Diptera: Cecidomyiidae (gall midges) Galls of Contarinia anthobia (Löw) were recorded from a young Crataegus monogyna (Common Hawthorn) in my Kelsale garden (TM387650). The flower buds are swollen, remaining unopened (Fig. 1) and contain several ivory white, jumping larvae (Fig. 2). This appears to be the first record of the species from Suffolk (Vincent, 2019).
Figure 1. Contarinia anthobia gall on Hawthorn bud.
Figure 2. Contarinia anthobia gall crosssection showing larva
Amongst the other cecids, larvae of Kiefferia pericarpiicola (Bremi) enlarge the fruits of Daucus carota (Wild Carrot), sometimes turning them a maroon colour. In Suffolk, the species is most frequent in coastal areas. Galls were found for the first time in a small wildflower meadow established in my Kelsale garden on 23.viii.2024, the midges having taken nearly ten years to colonise the carrot plants despite their occurrence on a roadside verge within a quarter of a mile of the garden. Dasineura acrophila (Winnertz) is one of the scarcer gall inducing midges on Fraxinus excelsior (Ash) and was an unexpected find at Tiggins Lane RNR in Kelsale (TM391659) on 13.v.2024 (Fig. 3). Along with other Fraxinus dependent invertebrates, the gall inducers on ash face a threat from ash dieback disease caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Figure 3. Dasineura acrophila
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 60 (2024)