Ecological data is crucial for determining the degree of reproductive isolation among closely related species, and in identifying the factors that have produced this divergence. We studied life history traits for three Asphondylia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) species that induce fruit galls either on Alpinia, Ligustrum or Aucuba, and we compared the traits with those published for three other closely related Japanese Asphondylia species. We found that the six species were significantly differentiated in important life history traits, such as host range, voltinism, lower developmental threshold temperature, thermal constant and diapausing season. The data indicate that divergence in the assessed life history traits evolves before morphological divergence, and such ecological divergence could strengthen isolating barriers among the taxa. We present scenarios on how host range expansion, host plant shift and host organ shift for galling initiate the early stages of speciation. We also highlight the importance of ecological data in identifying cryptic species. Specifically, we confirm that Alpinia intermedia (Zingiberaceae) is not an autumn–spring host of the soybean pod gall midge Asphondylia yushimai based on many differences in the life history traits between the Alpinia fruit gall midge Asphondylia sp. and A. yushimai.

中文翻译：

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形态学和遗传学相关的蛴螬物种（双翅目：Cecidomyiidae）之间的生态差异，包括 Alpinia 果瘿蚊在内的三种同源物的新生活史数据

生态数据对于确定密切相关物种之间的生殖隔离程度以及确定产生这种差异的因素至关重要。我们研究了在 Alpinia、Ligustrum 或 Aucuba 上诱导果瘿的三种 Asphondylia（双翅目：Cecidomyiidae）物种的生活史特征，并将这些特征与其他三个密切相关的日本 Asphondylia 物种的特征进行了比较。我们发现这6个物种在重要的生活史特征上存在显着差异，例如寄主范围、伏定性、较低的发育阈温度、热常数和滞育季节。数据表明，评估的生活史特征的差异在形态差异之前发生变化，这种生态差异可以加强分类群之间的隔离障碍。我们展示了宿主范围扩展、宿主植物转移和宿主器官转移如何启动物种形成的早期阶段的情景。我们还强调了生态数据在识别神秘物种方面的重要性。具体而言，我们根据山姜果瘿蚊 Asphondylia sp. 之间生活史特征的许多差异确认，中间山姜（Zingiberaceae）不是大豆荚瘿蚊 Asphondylia yushimai 的秋春季宿主。和 A. yushimai。我们根据山姜果瘿蚊 Asphondylia sp. 之间生活史特征的许多差异确认，中间山姜（Zingiberaceae）不是大豆荚瘿蚊 Asphondylia yushimai 的秋春季宿主。和 A. yushimai。我们根据山姜果瘿蚊 Asphondylia sp. 之间生活史特征的许多差异确认，中间山姜（Zingiberaceae）不是大豆荚瘿蚊 Asphondylia yushimai 的秋春季宿主。和 A. yushimai。