Leefmansiella pandani (Felt, 1921)

[Figs 20 a–s]

Trishormomyia pandani Felt, 1921c: 270.

Material examined. Syntypes, one male, one female reared from galls on Pandanus nitidus (Miq.) Kurz at Cibodas, Java, vii-1919 (see Leefmans 1921) (NYSM a 3107). The types on Felt’s slides are whole-mounted, uncleared but most characters are well observable, all tarsi missing except one in the female.

Description (additional to generic characters). Male. Wing 4.8 mm long, 1.8 mm wide. Flagellomeres: third 3x longer than wide, segments cylindrical at basal part of antenna becoming binodal distally Fig. 20m]; all segments with three, separate whorls of circumfilar loops, none reaching next distal circumfilum [Fig. 20o]. Palpus: first segment as long as wide, second 1.5x longer than wide, third 2x longer than wide [Fig. 20l]. Terminalia as for genus [Fig. 20n].

Female. Wing 5.0 mm long, 1.9 mm wide. Flagellomeres somewhat binodal, constriction between nodes bare.

Pupa [Figs 20 d–f]. Length 4.5 mm, width 1.5 mm. Head, thoracic segments, wing sheaths, terminalia dark green to black, leg sheaths orange, abdomen carrot-red; antennal horns pointed (Leefmans 1921).

Larva [Figs 20 g–i]. Length about 5 mm, width 1.3 mm, carrot-red, anal segment with two lateral sack-like processes, colourless distally, spatula absent (Leefmans 1921).

Biology. This species causes leaf galls on Pandanus nitidus Kurz (Pandanaceae) (host plant identified by C. A. Backer, the botanist of the Java Flora, see Felt (1921c) and Leefmans (1921). DvLR & DvL (1926, gall No. 49, Fig. 27 [Fig. 20b]), found the same gall but corrected the host plant name to Pandanus furcatus Roxb. While both plant names are valid, the main distribution of P. nitidus is confined to Java whereas P. furcatus occurs between Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and we consider the original diagnosis as the likely correct one. Leefmans (1921, Plates IX– XI, [Fig. 20a]) describes the gall and its development as follows. Galls are oval, up to 5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, occurring on both sides of the leaf, with a circular [emergence] hole, 1.5–2.5 mm in diameter, at the underside of the leaf. The egg is laid on the underside of a young leaf at the top of the plant. The young larva is overgrown by swollen plant tissue that forms the gall, leaving a narrow tunnel connecting the larval chamber with the surface. Shortly before the pupation in the gall, the larva closes the opening of the tunnel by spinning a thin membrane and additionally a second membrane inside the tunnel, just above its body. Before adult emergence, both membranes are penetrated by the pupa. The pupae were found to be parasitized by a chalcid (Leefmans 1921, Plate XII Figs 6, 7).

Geographical distribution. This species is known from Java and Sumatra. Java: Cibodas, Mt Gede, alt. 1450 m, vii-1919 (Leefmans 1921, host P. nitidus); Mt Ungaran, alt. 1000 m, xii-1909; Mt Salak, alt. 1000 m, vii-1920; Mt Gede, near Cibodas, alt. 1600 m, x-1923; Mt Mandalagiri, near Garut, alt. 1500 m, iv-1929; Mt Manglayang, near Bandung, alt. 1400 m, iii-1924; Sumatra: Bandar Baru, near Medan, alt. 1200 m, ii-1917; (all DvLR & DvL 1926, host P. furcatus). Additionally, the galls were found and larvae, pupae and an adult were collected by Melinda Agustina and Purnama Hidayat (IPB University (pers. comm., [Fig. 20c])) at Mt Gede and Mt Salak, Java, between February and April 2018.