''Biorhiza'' is a genus of
gall wasp
Gall wasps, also traditionally called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this gene ...
s in the family Cynipidae in the tribe Cynipini: the oak gall wasp tribe. Cynipini is the tribe partially responsible for the formation of
gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...
s known as
oak apple
An oak apple or oak gall is a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the famil ...
s on
oak trees
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
. These are formed after the wasp lays eggs inside the leaf buds and the plant tissues swell as the larvae of the gall wasp develop inside.
Species
The genus includes the following species:
* ''
Biorhiza mellea
''Biorhiza'' is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae in the tribe Cynipini: the oak gall wasp tribe. Cynipini is the tribe partially responsible for the formation of galls known as oak apples on oak trees
An oak is a hardwood tree ...
''
Ashmead, 1887
* ''
Biorhiza pallida
''Biorhiza pallida'', also known as the oak apple gall wasp, is a gall wasp species in the family Cynipidae. This species is a member of the tribe Cynipini: the oak gall wasp tribe. Cynipini is the tribe partially responsible for the formation o ...
''
(Olivier 1791)
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14497560
Hymenoptera genera
Cynipidae