Abstract
As an incipient step to clarify gall-feeding habits in Lepidoptera of Japan, field sampling of three distinct types of galls in addition to field observation was conducted in the Kinki district, central Japan. The collected galls were reared in the laboratory to examine cecidophagous lepidopteran fauna. 1) In spinous twig-galls on Quercus acutissima (Fagaceae) trees by the gall wasp Trichagalma serratae (Ashmead) (Cynipidae, Hymenoptera), over half of the gall clumps (58.3-100%) were attacked by lepidopteran larvae. Four lepidopteran species, Characoma ruficirra (Hampson) (Noctuidae), Andrioplecta pulverula (Meyrick) (Tortricidae), Anatrachyntis japonica Kuroko (Cosmopterygidae) and Hypatima sp. (Gelechiidae), eclosed from the galls. The latter two species are first records from plant galls. A. japonica larvae fed on the lignified gall tissues and attacked larval cells of the gall wasps. Whether the larva of Hypatima sp. fed on the gall tissues or not was unclear. 2) From oval stem-galls on the herb Achyranthes japonica (Amaranthaceae) by the gall midge Lasioptera achyranthii Shinji (Cecidomyiidae, Diptera), Amaya stellata Butler (Noctuidae) larvae were found. A. stellata larvae fed on the epidermis of the galls, with infestation rates being only 0-3.5%, and therefore little affected gall midge larvae. 3) From spherical fruit-galls on the liana Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Vitaceae) by the gall midge Asphondylia baca Monzen (Cecidomyiidae, Diptera), Nippoptilia vitis (Sasaki) (Pterophoridae) adults eclosed. A N. vitis larva could complete its growth in one gall. When larval attack was prior to eclosion of the gall midge, the midge larva died of the destruction of the gall by N. vitis. The infestation rate by N. vitis was 52.9%.
