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Cynipidae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea) is a diverse group of wasps, many of which are capable of inducing plants to make galls, novel structures that protect and nourish the wasps' larvae. Other cynipids, especially those species in Ceroptresini and Synergini, are understood to be usurpers of galls made by other cynipids. The North American cynipid fauna has not been fully catalogued since 1979, but there is renewed interest in revising the taxonomy and in doing research that sheds light on the mechanisms of gall induction, the evolution of this life history, and their ecological interactions more broadly. Significant taxonomic changes have impacted the group since 1979, thereby warranting a new catalogue. The current state of knowledge of species classified in Aulacideini, Ceroptresini, Diastrophini, Diplolepidini, Phanacidini and Synergini in the United States, Canada, and Mexico is summarised in catalogue format. We report 323 names, including 170 valid species of rose gall wasps, herb gall wasps, and inquiline gall wasps, classified in 12 genera, from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Current taxonomic status, distribution, host associations, and vernacular names are listed for each species. The catalogue also includes the original description of galls for many species of gall-inducer, as well as atomised characterisations of different gall traits as key-value pairs. For most galling species without existing vernacular names, new vernacular names are proposed.
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GallOnt: An ontology for plant gall phenotypes
Galls are novel plant structures that develop in response to select biotic stressors. These structures, extended phenotypes of the inducer, usually serve to protect and feed the inducer or its progeny. This life history strategy has evolved dozens of times, and tens of thousands of species — including many bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mites and insects — are capable of manipulating plants in this way. The variation in gall phenotypes is extraordinary across species but usually predictable for each species of inducer. We introduce here a new ontology, GallOnt, that facilitates consistent descriptions and the semantic representation of and reasoning over plant gall phenotype data. GallOnt was largely developed from ontologies in the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry and stands to connect plant gall phenotypes to knowledge derived from model plant systems, including genotype-phenotype and agricultural research. We also introduce the idea of a new gall data standard — Minimum Information for the Description of Galls (MIDG version 0.1) — as a starting point for discussions regarding cecidology best practices.
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- PAR ID:
- 10559907
- Publisher / Repository:
- Pensoft
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Biodiversity Data Journal
- Volume:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 1314-2836
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e128585
