Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Gall Week

We’re in the midst of a iNaturalist project called Gall Week 2021. Some 116 people have found 544 species of galls (as of Wednesday p.m.). I”ve contributed 31 species, including these Andricus weldi on white oak, and the following:
Andricus quercusflocci on white oak. The little one to the lower right seems to be undescribed.
Woolly Oak Gall (Callirhytis lanata) on scarlet oak.
Two on a pin oak leaf:
These are Furry Oak Leaf Gall Wasp (Callirhytis furva).
And this one is Zopheroteras guttatum.
Another two-fer, on scarlet oak. Those are old Macrodiplosis majalis on the right (these are induced by gall midges, unlike the others here, which are induced by gall wasps).
The others on that scarlet oak leaf are Kokkocynips rileyi.
These are more are found within a mile and a half from my home in Brooklyn, NY. Off the top of my head, I can think of four species found on swamp white oaks planted in our sidewalks. Check out the Gallformers site for help on identification.

mthew

3 responses to “Gall Week”

  1. nature969

    I really appreciate your gall posts! That’s how I originally found your posts and website, maybe 10 years ago
    Keep up the awesome naturalist work you do and many thanks!

    Reply
  2. chuckmac

    Is there some unknown symbiosis between the gall and the plant? Pure parasitism seems so unfair. Chuck McAlexander (Nothing showed up below the photos)

    Sent via the AT&T TREK™ 2 HD a 4G LTE tablet

    Reply
    1. mthew

      The plant contains the insect, segregating and containing the herbivory, so in this sense there does seem to be some mutual benefit going on.

      Reply

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