Overview

''Feron crystallinum'', also known as the crystalline gall wasp, is a species of gall-forming wasp in the genus ''

Feron Fafnir Falcon Falcona Falligar the Behemoth Falligar the Behemoth, also known simply as Falligar, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He makes a single appearance in ''Thor: God of Thunder ...

''. The former name of the ''Feron crystallinum'' is Andricus crystallinus. Galls in plants are tissues formed on the plant through either the saliva of an insect, which can reprogram a plant resulting in the abnormal growth; irritation, or infection caused by fungi, bacteria, or eggs that were laid by insects. The galls of its all-female

parthenogenic Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...

generation are pink and covered in hairs that are white, red, or brown. These galls are often massed together in clumps that can cover the underside of leaves. Individual galls are 12–14 mm high, 7 mm across, and have a single chamber for larvae. The lower chamber is where larvae develop out of two chambers in the gall. The body of a gall can end with an extended neck when they are of considerable size. This generation emerges in late winter. In the spring, the bisexual generation of males and females induces much smaller galls with shorter hairs. The unisexual generation takes place on the underside of leaves in the fall and summer, while the bisexual generation can be found on the upper side. ''F. crystallinum'' galls are found in all species of

oak 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 ...

s in California.

Identification

There are various types of female ''F. crystallinum'' in the different generations, which include the sexual generation, the bisexual generation, the asexual generation, and the unisexual generation. The female that correlates with the sexual generation is typically black, and it is usually darker than the male counterparts with the exception of the antennae, while the female unisexual generation has a reddish tone. The female asexual generation is comparably more of a chestnut color. There have been signs of generational changes in the ''F. crystallinum'' due to the galls depicting developed holes.

References

External links

''Feron crystallinum'' on gallformers
Cynipidae Gall-inducing insects Oak galls Fauna of California Insects described in 1900 Hymenoptera of North America {{Apocrita-stub