GALL MITE NEW TO SUFFOLK
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ACERIA CERREA (NALEPA, 1898) A GALL MITE (ACARINA: ERIOPHYOIDEA) ON QUERCUS CERRIS NEW TO SUFFOLK JERRY BOWDREY Abstract The gall mite Aceria cerrea is reported new to Suffolk from galls on Quercus cerris. In 2018 galls were found on leaves of Quercus cerris (Turkey Oak) in South-east London (Root, 2018). They consisted of vaulted pustules on the upper surface of the leaf (Fig.1a) with corresponding depressions lined with tangled whitish hairs on the underside (Fig. 1b). The galls are superficially similar in appearance to those of Aceria ilicis on Quercus ilex (Holm oak) found commonly in Suffolk.
a
b
Figure 1. Galls of Aceria cerrea on leaves of Turkey Oak; a:upperside, b: underside. A search of the Continental literature suggested that the inducer was the mite Aceria cerrea, a species apparently unknown in Britain. Around the same time, similar galls were also found by the present author in Coggeshall, Essex (Root, loc. cit.). On November 8 2018 galls were again found at Benhall, East Suffolk (TM364631), a new species for the County. In the absence of a positive identification of the causal organism, there was some reluctance for adding the species to the British list but, a search of the literature by Dr Brian Spooner discovered that, 90 years ago, Bagnall and Harrison (1928) had
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 55 (2019)
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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 55
previously recorded A. cerrea in Britain and it was therefore accepted as a British species. Galls have since also been found in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. It is interesting that the mite has turned up in such a wide range of places in one year, after an apparent absence of 90 years. References Bagnall, R. & Harrison, J. (1928). A catalogue of British Eriophyidae. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 10 2: 427-445. Root, T. (2018). Mite erinea gall Aceria cerrea occurring on host Quercus cerris. First UK record in 90 years. Cecidology 33(2): 50-1.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 55 (2019)