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Taxonomy And Phylogeny Of The Asphondylia Species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Of North American Goldenrods: Challenging Morphology, Complex Host Associations, And Cryptic Speciation, Netta Dorchin, Jeffrey Joy, Lukas Hilke, Michael Wise, Warren Abrahamson

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

Reproductive isolation and speciation in herbivorous insects may be accomplished via shifts between host-plant resources: either plant species or plant organs. The intimate association between gall-inducing insects and their host plants makes them particularly useful models in the study of speciation. North American goldenrods (Asteraceae: Solidago and Euthamia) support a rich fauna of gall-inducing insects. Although several of these insects have been the subject of studies focusing on speciation and tritrophic interactions, others remain unstudied and undescribed. Among the latter are at least seven species of the large, cosmopolitan gall midge genus Asphondylia Loew (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), the taxonomy and biology …