Neolasioptera

Gagné, Raymond J., Kay, Fernando Mc & Heard, Tim A., 2011, A new species of Neolasioptera (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from Parkinsonia aculeata (Leguminosae) in Argentina for possible use in biological control in Australia, with a key to Neotropical species of Neolasioptera, Zootaxa 2866, pp. 61-68 : 62

Taxonomy of Neolasioptera

Neolasioptera is the largest genus of the tribe Alycaulini . Its species are primary gall makers and have adults with 3- or 4-segmented palpi and fully fused, unlobed female cerci, pupae with a non-brittle exoskeleton, and larvae with the spatula (the characteristic dermal thoracic structure of most cecidomyiids) usually well-developed (with four exceptions), 3 or 4 lateral papillae on each side of the spatula and usually 6–8 papillae (two species with 4) on the terminal segment, which is convex and unlobed ( Gagné 1994). Many Neolasioptera species have an associated, presumably symbiotic fungus, but the tunnels of the new species show no sign of fungal hyphae or its excrescence.