Valid Names Results

Endernia despoliata Danzig, 1971 (Asterolecaniidae: Endernia)

Nomenclatural History

• Endernia despoliata Danzig 1971a: 1414. Type data: RUSSIA: Primor'ye Kray, Vladivostok, on Quercus mongolica.. Holotype, female, by original designation Type depository: Maanshan: Scientific Committee of Maanshan, Anhui Province, China; St. Petersburg: Zoological Museum, Academy of Science, Russia; accepted valid name Illustr.

Common Names

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• XuNiWu2022: pp.410 ( Adult (F) ) [Asterolecaniidae that induce galls]
• XuNiWu2022: pp.414 ( Life Stages ) [all instars of female Endernia despoliata]
• Danzig1988: pp.710 ( Adult (F) ) [Far East of the USSR]

Remarks

• Structure: The female of Endernia despoliata induces the formation of a pit, which is much deeper than the pits induced by other asterolecaniid species; the exuviae of second-instar nymph cover the external opening of the pit; males do not induce pit formation (Danzig, 1971a, 1980b). Gall subcircular with a small opening at the top, the tissue near the opening woodier than other parts of the gall; body of adult female enclosed in gall. The gall opening is closed by the exuviae of the second-instar nymph. Adult female in gall subcircular, 1.00–1.25 mm long, 0.9–1.0 mm wide; yellowish when young, later becoming yellowish green to red. (Xu, et al., 2022) Slide-mounted specimen. Antennae highly reduced, each 1-segmented or inconspicuously 2-segmented with 2 fleshy setae and a slender seta apically; eyes absent; mouthparts developed; legs absent. With 2 pairs of thoracic spiracles. Anal ring (Fig. 2B) situated on venter, triangular, without pores, but bearing a pair of small setae situated just anterolateral to opening. (Xu, et al., 2022) Each egg oval, about 0.15 mm long, yellowish, laid under abdominal venter of adult female. First-instar nymph yellowish, oval, about 0.25 mm long and 0.15 mm wide. No gall developed at this stage. (Xu, et al., 2022) Second-instar nymph yellowish. Plant tissues around insect swelling to cover margins of body. Third-instar nymph similar to second-instar, but the plant tissues proliferate and swell to completely enclose the third-instar nymph, leaving an opening at the top of the gall that is blocked by the exuviae of the second-instar nymph. (Xu, et al., 2022)
• Biology: Endernia despoliata has one generation per year in Liaoning province. The adult females live in swollen galls on two-year-old twigs of Quercus mongolica. The gall has a sub-circular opening at the top and the vegetative tissue of the gall wall is woody; the lower part of the cavity is wide and the upper part is narrow; the adult female inside has its head facing downwards towards the plant stem and its rear end outwards, towards the gall opening. The female lays eggs beneath the venter of the abdomen in early May. After hatching, the first-instar nymphs stay in the cavity for several days before climbing out of the opening at the top of the gall to seek a feeding site on a one-year-old twig in mid-May. The second-instar nymphs first occur in late May; the third-instar nymphs are found in early July. As the nymph feeds, the surrounding plant tissue gradually proliferates and eventually forms the gall that encases the body of the pit scale. The galls are densely packed on the branches, often in clusters. The new adult females are found in early August and hibernate in late September. (Xu, et al., 2022)
• General Remarks: Description and illustration of adult female by Danzig (1971a, 1980b). Redescriptions and illustrations of adult female and of first-, second- and third-instar nymphs in Xu, et al., 2022.

Illustrations

Citations