Life history, ecology and communal gall occupation in the manzanita leaf-gall aphid,Tamalia coweni(cockerell) (Homoptera: Aphididae)

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Abstract
I describe life history details for a California population of Tamalia coweni on the host plants Arctostaphylos patula and Arctostaphylos viscida. In particular, studies on the sequence of gall initiation and the identity of gall-making morphs reveal that later generations of wingless females, as well as the stem mother, are capable of inducing galls. Winged females disperse to other sites suitable for gall induction and deposit wingless gall-forming females. The life cycles of T. coweni on the two species of Arctostaphylos studied differ considerably and affect the ecology and population biology of the aphid. I discuss the possible role of a newly observed wingless morph in the life history of T. coweni. I document communal gall occupation by multiple aphid foundresses and place it into a sociobiological context.