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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Gnats, Gall Midges, and March Flies (Bibionomorpha) » Fungus Gnats and Gall Midges (Sciaroidea) » Gall Midges and Wood Midges (Cecidomyiidae) » Gall Midges (Cecidomyiinae) » Lasiopteridi » Alycaulini » Astictoneura » Astictoneura muhlenbergiae
Photo#1338804
Grass gall - Astictoneura muhlenbergiae
Copyright © 2017 John van der Linden

Grass gall - Astictoneura muhlenbergiae
Beard Century Farm, Winneshiek County, Iowa, USA
February 10, 2017
The gall has the appearance of a miniature ear of corn; and a structure similar to an ear of corn, too, in that it is composed of numerous "husks" attached at the base of the "ear" that you have to peel away, one by one, before you get to the larvae inside.

A closer look at one of these growths, cut open to reveal larvae inside:



Closeup of one larva from the cut-open gall:



Grass has been identified as a Muhlenbergia sp.

Images of this individual: tag all
Grass gall - Astictoneura muhlenbergiae Grass deformity - Astictoneura muhlenbergiae Grass deformity - Astictoneura muhlenbergiae
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Contributed by John van der Linden on 11 February, 2017 - 12:40pm
Last updated 30 April, 2017 - 4:40pm

Moved
Moved from Unidentified Galls.
… Charley Eiseman, 30 April, 2017 - 4:40pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Reminds me of galls Mike has found on Dichanthelium, but I think only parasitoids have been reared so far.

I'll look at those references eventually; right now I'm just cleaning up the back end of ID Request in spare moments...
… Charley Eiseman, 30 April, 2017 - 11:36am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks, Charley
Recently I sent some of these galls to Dr. Gagne. He responded but I hadn't gotten around to posting his response yet (long to-do list...). He says of these galls, "evidently Astictorneura muhlenbergiae (Marten). Lots of larvae in these galls so I will try to rear adults."
… John van der Linden, 30 April, 2017 - 3:53pm login or register to post comments

In addition
to tracking down an ID for the grass, John P. shared some useful links, including one to an 1892 article by F.M. Webster in The Canadian Entomologist with a drawing of a gall that looks just like the gall I've posted here.

Here is the citation:
Volume 24, Issue 10
October 1892, pp. 243-245
INSECTS REARED FROM GALLS ON MUHLENBERGIA MEXICANA
F. M. Webster

The article is available for free online via the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

It is not clear from Webster's article which organism actually induces the galls; he reared several different insects from the galls he and his colleague found.

John also shared a link to this table from the Illinois Wildflowers website, which lists several insects that form galls on Muhlenbergia sp. grasses.
… John van der Linden, 20 February, 2017 - 12:55pm login or register to post comments

my best guess...
is Muhlenbergia sp. But not definitive.
… Michael W. Palmer, 17 February, 2017 - 1:14pm login or register to post comments

 
Very good to know, Michael
Thank you for taking a look.
… John van der Linden, 18 February, 2017 - 10:20am login or register to post comments

 
Yes
Muhlenbergia, possibly M. frondosa.
… John Pearson, 20 February, 2017 - 12:30pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks, John
*
… John van der Linden, 20 February, 2017 - 12:35pm login or register to post comments

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