花に隠された生物多様性：蕾利用タマバエ類の多様性と生態系機能の解明

在日本，经过数十年的深入研究，目前已知瘿蚊（双翅目瘿蚊科）形成的瘿约有600种，其中包括未确定的种类。本研究于2022年在102种植物的花和花蕾中对瘿蚊进行了调查，在68种寄主植物上首次发现了数十种未描述的瘿蚊。所有收集到的物种的幼虫都会离开寄主植物，落到地面化蛹，只有一种物种的蛹会落到地面。当一个物种有超过10个幼虫个体时，饲养成虫阶段用于物种水平的鉴定。对许多物种进行了拍照，记录了它们的生活史以及与其他生物（如捕食者、拟寄生物和相关的共生真菌）的相互作用。这些数据将有助于基于综合分类学方法的物种描述。对大部分采集到的瘿蚊种类进行了部落和属位的确定，有趣的是，不同部落和超部落的瘿蚊都有代表。收集到的物种的DNA分析（基于线粒体基因COI片段）的初步结果表明，大多数物种是单食性的，而其余物种是多食性或寡食性的，共享几个寄主植物。

In Japan, about 600 sorts of galls formed by gall midges (Diptera Cecidomyiidae) are known so far after decades of intensive research, including those unidentified species. In this study, gall midges were investigated in the flowers and flower buds of 102 plants in 2022, and dozens of undescribed species were discovered for the first time on 68 host plants. The larvae of all collected species leave the host plants and drop to the ground for pupation, expect one species of which the pupa drop to the ground. When over ten larval individuals of a single species were available, the adult stage was reared to be used for species-level identification. Many species were photographed and information on the life history and interactions with other organisms (such as predators, parasitoids, and the associated mutualistic fungus) were noted. Such data will facilitate the species description based on the approach of integrative taxonomy. The tribal and generic position of most collected gall midge species was determined, and interestingly, gall midges of various tribes and supertribes were represented.The initial results of DNA analysis (based on a fragment of the mitochondrial gene COI) of the collected species indicate the majority of species are monophagous, while the remaining species are polyphagous or oligophagous sharing several host plants.