Contribution to the knowledge of gall-inducing insects from Biskra province, Algeria

Abstract

On the basis of the sampling surveys in Biskra province during 2012 and 2019, fourteen distinct types of galls induced by insects were found on various host plants. They were belonging to three insect orders, four families and twelve genera. Most of the galls were induced by eight species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), recently recorded from Biskra province, of which two species Houardiella salicornia Kieffer, 1912 and Gephyraulus moricandiae Sylven & Solinas, 1989 are first recorded from Algeria. The only known gall-inducing psyllid species Rhodochlanis salsolae (Lethierry, 1874) from Biskra (Algeria) as well as three gall-inducing aphid species associated with Pistacia atlantica were detected for the first time in Biskra province. These phytophagous species are associated with ten host plant species of which, the family Chenopodiaceae have the highest number of gall insects. Majority of the gallers are of Mediterranean origin, considered as economically indifferent species.

Keywords

• gall-inducing
• psyllid
• cecidomyiidae
• biskra
• algeria