![]() Biology, images, analysis, design... |
|
"It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important" |
|
Myzocallis tuberculataTuberculate oak aphidOn this page: Identification & Distribution Other aphids on the same hostIdentification & DistributionAll adult viviparae of Myzocallis tuberculata are alate (see two pictures below). They are coloured reddish-pink to pinkish-yellow, and have patches of white wax powder, small dark markings on and around their dorsal tubercles, and dark intersegmental dorsal sclerites. Their antennae are pale, but ringed with black. The clypeus is produced anteriorly (cf. Myzocallis punctata, which has a normal clypeus). The forewings have pigmentation thickly bordering all veins, sometimes extending between veins. There are paired spinal tubercles on abdominal tergites I-VI. In spring populations the dorsal tubercles are all short - only about 0.75 times as long as their basal width. In summer/autumn (see two pictures below) the tubercles on I & II are much larger, up to 0.14 mm in length on abdominal segment I and sometimes pigmented (cf. Myzocallis punctata, which may have very short paired tubercles on tergites I - II, not more than half as long as their basal widths). The legs are lightly fuscous on the apical halves of the femora, and on the tibial apices, and the tarsi are dark. The siphunculi are pale and short with spicules, and lack an apical flange. Like Myzocallis granovskyi, they have a knobbed cauda and a deeply bilobed anal plate. The body length of adult alate Myzocallis tuberculata is about 1.5 mm.
First image above by permission, copyright Solomon Hendrix, all rights reserved. Immature Myzocallis tuberculata (see pictures below) are pale yellow with dark spinal spots and patches of intense red pigment. They have long, capitate dorsal hairs.
First image above copyright Doug Goldman under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Myzocallis tuberculata does not host alternate, but feeds only on a few oak species (Quercus spp.), especially American white oak (Quercus alba), bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii). Alate fundatrices were found in Minnesota in May, and oviparae have been recorded in Quebec on Quercus macrocarpa in late August (Quednau, 1999). Myzocallis tuberculata is found in eastern USA and Canada. Other aphids on the same hostMyzocallis tuberculata has been recorded on 4 oak species (Quercus alba, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus muehlenbergii, Quercus velutina).
|