Fergusonina

Not to be confused with Fergusonia.

Fergusonina
Outline
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Fergusoninidae
Genus: Fergusonina
Malloch, 1924[1]
Type species
Fergusonina microcera
Malloch, 1924

Fergusonina, the sole genus in the family of Fergusoninidae, are gall-forming flies. There are about 40 species in the genus, all of them producing galls on Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Corymbia, and Metrosideros[2] species (all in the family Myrtaceae) in Australia and New Zealand.

These flies are small and their larvae grow within galls formed on the leaf, shoot or flower buds.[3][4][5] The galls themselves are induced by endosymbiotic nematodes in the genus Fergusobia (family Neotylenchidae) which are obligate mutualists of the flies.[3] Females carry the nematode in their haemocoel, and transport them to host plants while laying their eggs.[3] Most of the fly species are specific to their tree hosts but a few use more than one species of host.[3][4][5]

The taxonomic placement of Fergusoninidae is disputed. While formerly in the superfamily Opomyzoidea, a 2020 study places it within superfamily Nerioidea based on morphology,[6] while a 2021 study using transcriptome data places it in a group along with Agromyzidae and other families[7]

  • A Fergusonina species
    A Fergusonina species
  1. ^ Malloch, John Russel (1924). "Notes on Australian Diptera. No. III". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 49 (3). The Linnean Society of New South Wales: 329–338.
  2. ^ Taylor, Gary; Davies, Kerrie; Martin, Nicholas; Crosby, Trevor (2007). "First record of Fergusonina (Diptera: Fergusoninidae) and associated Fergusobia (Tylenchida: Neotylenchidae) forming galls on Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) from New Zealand". Systematic Entomology. 32 (3): 548–557. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2007.00383.x. S2CID 84323543.
  3. ^ a b c d Nelson, Leigh A.; Davies, Kerrie A.; Scheffer, Sonja J.; Taylor, Gary S.; Purcell, Matthew F.; Giblin-Davis, Robin M.; Thornhill, Andrew H.; Yeates, David K. (2014). "An emerging example of tritrophic coevolution between flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae) and nematodes (Nematoda: Neotylenchidae) on Myrtaceae host plants". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 111 (4): 699–718. doi:10.1111/bij.12237.
  4. ^ a b Taylor, Gary S. (2004). "Revision of Fergusonina Malloch gall flies (Diptera : Fergusoninidae) from Melaleuca (Myrtaceae)". Invertebrate Systematics. 18 (3): 251. doi:10.1071/IS02033.
  5. ^ a b Scheffer, S.J.; Davies, K.A.; Taylor, G.S.; Thornhill, A.H.; Lewis, M.L.; Winkler, I.S.; Yeates, D.K.; Purcell, M.F.; Makinson, J.; Giblin-Davis, R.M. (2017). "Phylogenetics of Australasian gall flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae): Evolutionary patterns of host-shifting and gall morphology". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 115: 140–160. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.07.023. PMID 28757445.
  6. ^ Lonsdale, Owen (2020-02-17). "Family groups of Diopsoidea and Nerioidea (Diptera: Schizophora)—Definition, history and relationships". Zootaxa. 4735 (1): 1–177. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4735.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
  7. ^ Bayless, Keith M.; Trautwein, Michelle D.; Meusemann, Karen; Shin, Seunggwan; Petersen, Malte; Donath, Alexander; Podsiadlowski, Lars; Mayer, Christoph; Niehuis, Oliver; Peters, Ralph S.; Meier, Rudolf (2021-02-08). "Beyond Drosophila: resolving the rapid radiation of schizophoran flies with phylotranscriptomics". BMC Biology. 19 (1): 23. doi:10.1186/s12915-020-00944-8. ISSN 1741-7007. PMC 7871583. PMID 33557827.