About Dasineura crataegi (Winnertz, 1853)
Dasineura crataegi (Winnertz, 1853), commonly known as the hawthorn button-top gall-midge, is a species of gall-midge in the order Diptera. This insect causes the growth of hawthorn button-top galls in the terminal shoots of three Crataegus taxa: common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.), Midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata (Poir.) DC), and their hybrid Crataegus × media Bechst. This species has two accepted synonyms: Perrisia crataegi and Cecidomyia crataegi (Winnertz, 1853). The hawthorn button-top gall midge has a scattered distribution across England, but it is classified as an under recorded species. Galls caused by this midge can be controlled by applying insecticide spray when the species is in its larval stage. The life cycle of D. crataegi proceeds as follows: adult midges emerge from pupae located in the ground underneath host hawthorn shrubs, and infestations of terminal buds begin in March or April. After feeding and sheltering inside the gall’s leaf rosette, fully grown larvae drop to the ground in September or October to pupate.
