A new genus and species of gall midge (Diptera : Cecidomyiidae) damaging flowers of the South Australian swamp paper-bark, Melaleuca halmaturorum (Myrtaceae)

A new species of gall midge, Austrolopesia melaleucae, is described from fl ower galls on Melaleuca halmaturonum F. Muell. ex Mig., a salt tolerant tre e growing in temporal swamps and saline areas of southeastern Australia. No seeds are produced in infested flowers and the infestation can potentially limit the reproduction of the tree. The larva, pupa, male and female of th e new species are described and illustrated. The gall midge is the first re cord of the tribe Lopesiini in Australia and a new genus is erected to cont ain it. Austrolopesia gen, nov, is compared to other genera of Lopesiini an d Lophodiplosis Gagne, an Australian genus feeding on Melaleuca. The Austra lian species Cecidomyia frauenfeldi Schiner, 1868 from branch bud galls on Melaleuca sp. is newly combined in Dasineura.