Pineapple gall adelgid
| Pineapple gall adelgid | |
|---|---|
| An opened gall, where the Adelgid nymphs are visible | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Sternorrhyncha |
| Family: | Adelgidae |
| Genus: | Adelges |
| Species: | A. abietis |
| Binomial name | |
| Adelges abietis (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The pineapple gall adelgid (Adelges abietis) is a species of conifer-feeding insect that forms pineapple-shaped plant galls on its host species, commonly Norway and Sitka spruce. The adelgids (genus Adelges) are pear-shaped, soft-bodied green insects with long antennae, closely related to the aphid. Adelges lays up to one hundred eggs at a time, one on each needle. Adelges abietis (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most common species; synonyms are A. gallarum-abietis, Chermes abietis and Sacciphantes abietis.
The pineapple or pseudocone gall is a type of insect-formed gall, or abnormal outgrowth of plant tissue, that develops as a chemically induced distortion of needles, observed mostly on Norway spruce and Sitka spruce.