Simon van Noort
(Research and Exhibitions Department, Iziko Museums of South Africa)
A new genus and species of gall wasp (Halleriaphagus phagolucida) was recently described by Simon van Noort (Iziko) and Roger Burks (University of California). This was part of a taxonomic revision redefining the circumscription of the family Ormyridae based on an evolutionary reassessment of both molecular and morphological characters.
The wasp species in the family Ormyridae are associated with plant galls, either as gall formers or as parasitoids of gall formers. Species in the African genus Asparagobius form galls on Asparagus (Asparagaceae); the American Blueberry stem gall wasp(Hemadas nubilipennis) produces galls on Blueberry plants (Vaccinium, Ericaceae); the South African Halleria gall wasp forms galls on the leaves of species of Tree Fuchsia (Halleria, Stilbaceae), whereas the numerous global species of Ormyrus are parasitoids of gall formers.
Galls do not provide fool-proof protection. There are parasitoid wasps, such as the new species of Torymus (Torymidae) shown below that can circumvent the protective gall by using a long ovipositor (egg-laying apparatus). This is inserted into the gall to reach the developing gall wasp larva on which an egg is laid. The parasitoid wasp larva will then feed on the gall wasp larva eventually killing it.
The Halleria gall wasp was described as a new species in a paper published in the journal Systematic Entomology:
van Noort S, Mitroiu M-D, Burks R, Gibson G, Hanson P, Heraty J, Janšta P, Cruaud A, Rasplus J-Y. 2024. Redefining Ormyridae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) with establishment of subfamilies and description of new genera. Systematic Entomology 49: 447–494. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12630
Simon van Noort is Curator of Entomology having conducted research on wasp systematics and evolution at Iziko since 1992.
https://www.iziko.org.za/researcher/simon-van-noort
http://www.figweb.org/Research/Laboratories/van_Noort/index.htm
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon_Noort