{{Short description|Species of fly}} {{Speciesbox | image = | image_caption = | genus = Mayetiola | species = thujae | authority = Hedlin, 1959 (Originally ''Phytophaga thujae'') | synonyms = ''Phytophaga thujae'' }}
'''''Mayetiola thujae''''', the '''redcedar cone midge''', is a species of gall midge that infects western redcedar (''Thuja plicata'') cones.
==Description== Males are {{convert|2.44|mm|in}} long on average. Females are somewhat larger, averaging {{convert|2.77|mm|in}} in length, and have retractible ovipositors.<ref name="Hedlin 1959">{{cite journal |last = Hedlin |first = A. F. |date = November 1959 |title = Description and Habits of a New Species of ''Phytophaga'' (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from Western Red Cedar Cones |journal = The Canadian Entomologist |publisher = Entomological Society of Canada |volume = 91 |issue = 11 |pages = 719{{ndash}}723 |doi = 10.4039/Ent91719-11}}</ref> The adults of both sexes are dark gray.<ref name="Forest Genetics BC">{{cite web |title = Cone and Seed Insect Pest Leaflet no. 1: Redcedar Cone Midge (''Mayetiola thujae'') |date = February 2014 |orig-date = August 2010 |website = forestgeneticsbc.ca |publisher = Forest Genetics Council of British Columbia |via = British Columbia Ministry of Forests |url = https://forestgeneticsbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-Redcedar-Cone-Midge-Mayetiola-thujae.pdf}}</ref>
==Ecology== Eggs are laid on the inner surface of female western redcedar cones in the March or April,<ref name="Hedlin 1980">{{cite encyclopedia |last = Hedlin |first = A. F. |date = 1980 |title = Cone and seed insects of North American conifers |publisher = Environment Canada, Forest Service. Co-published by the United States Forest Service and Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources |via = Pacific Forestry Centre |page = 34 |url = https://d1ied5g1xfgpx8.cloudfront.net/pdfs/2026.pdf#page=41}}</ref> shortly after pollination occurs.<ref name="Hedlin 1964">{{cite journal |last = Hedlin |first = A. F. |date = July 1964 |title = Life History and Habits of a Midge, ''Phytophaga thujae'' Hedlin (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Western Red Cedar Cones |journal = The Canadian Entomologist |publisher = Entomological Society of Canada |volume = 96 |issue = 7 |pages = 950{{ndash}}957 |doi = 10.4039/Ent96950-7}}</ref> The eggs are oblong and translucent, but appear to be orange due to the color of the larvae.<ref name="Hedlin 1964"/> The eggs hatch in April or May after a month of incubation.<ref name="Hedlin 1980"/> The larvae, which grow up to {{convert|4|mm|in}} long,<ref name="Forest Genetics BC"/> feed on the seeds and tissue of the cone before beginning to pupate in late summer.<ref name="Hedlin 1964"/>
As a control measure, insecticides can be applied to western redcedar cones in the spring.<ref name="Forest Genetics BC"/> The larvae are often infected by parasitoid wasps of the family Chalcididae.<ref name="Hedlin 1964"/>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q13619539}}
Category:Cecidomyiinae Category:Insect pests of temperate forests Category:Insects described in 1959