gall midge

noun

1. any of several dipterous insects of the family Cecidomyiidae, the larvae of which form characteristic galls on plants.

gall midge

noun

1. any of various small fragile mosquito-like dipterous flies constituting the widely distributed family Cecidomyidae, many of which have larvae that produce galls on plants Also calledgallflygall gnat See also Hessian fly

Word History and Origins

Origin of gall midge¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

For inspiration, the researchers looked to gall midge larvae, maggots that miraculously hurl themselves across distances 30 times as long as their loglike bodies, which are one-tenth of an inch long.

From New York Times

This lively leaper is the young, wriggly form of an insect called the gall midge.

From New York Times

That is basically the scale of what a gall midge larvae achieve, only they do not jump over planes—they jump between plants.

From Scientific American

The arachnid becomes of most concern to humans in the fall, after it spends all summer feasting on the larvae of a gall midge, a fly that nests in oak leaves.

From Wall Street Journal

In nature it is kept in check by various predators such as ladybugs, a gall midge, predaceous mites and several pirate bugs, all of them extremely sensitive to insecticides.

From Literature