''Andricus quercusstrobilanus'', the lobed oak gall wasp, is a
species
of
gall wasp in the
family Cynipidae,
found in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
The ''
quercus'' in its
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
is the
genus name for
oak, while "strobilus" is derived from the
Greek ''strobilo'' which means "cone", a reference to the cone shape of the
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, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...
;
thus the gall is sometimes called pine cone oak gall.
Description
Larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
induce a cluster of wedge-shaped galls on
white oaks, including
bur oak,
swamp white oak, and
overcup oak
''Quercus lyrata'', the overcup oak, is an oak in the white oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''). The common name, overcup oak, refers to its acorns that are mostly enclosed within the acorn cup. It is native to lowland wetlands in the east ...
.
The galls are irregular, cone-shaped bodies
that are closely packed together, with their pointed bases attached to a common centre.
These wedges are hard and corky and break off very easily when the gall is dry. Each of them contains a hollow kernel with a plump, large larva inside.
The galls undergo color change from pink or red to yellow and finally to brown.
Adults of the species have not been described.
Ecology
Guest wasps found in the galls include
inquilines such as ''
Synergus lignicola'' (
Cynipidae) and
parasitoids such as ''
Eurytoma'' sp. (
Eurytomidae
The Eurytomidae are a family within the superfamily Chalcidoidea.
Unlike most chalcidoids, the larvae of many are phytophagous (feeding in stems, seeds, or galls), while others are more typical parasitoids, though even then the hosts are usually ...
).
References
External links
Cynipidae
Gall-inducing insects
Taxa named by Carl Robert Osten-Sacken
Insects described in 1862
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