Apiomorpha is a genus of gall-inducing scale insect that is host restricted to Eucalyptus. Within Apiomorpha there is a hierarchical pattern of host specificity including, at the lowest taxonomic level, different chromosomal forms of Apiomorpha occurring on closely related eucalypts. Apiomorpha is currently recognized as a member of the Eriococcidae, the most speciose group of gall-inducing scale insects. Most gall-inducing eriococcids are restricted to Australia and it has been considered possible that the diverse Australian eriococcid fauna is the result of a single endemic radiation. Recent molecular studies, however, indicate that the Australian gall-inducing eriococcids are not monophyletic. Instead, several Australian gall-inducing genera are in clades that include non-galling and non-Australian taxa. These results suggest multiple origins of the galling habit among the eriococcid scale insects.
Keywords: Eriococcidae, galls
Back to Phylogeny and Evolution of Sternorrhyncha
Back to Section Symposia
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition