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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) » Cecidomyiidi » Asphondyliini » Polystepha
Photo#259741
Gall Midge gall - Polystepha
Copyright © 2009 John Pearson

Gall Midge gall - Polystepha
Ackworth, Warren County, Iowa, USA
March 21, 2009
Size: 4 mm diameter
Insect gall (?) on old, fallen leaf of bur oak. Insect gall?

Images of this individual: tag all
Gall Midge gall - Polystepha Gall Midge gall - Polystepha Gall Midge gall - Polystepha Gall Midge gall - Polystepha
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Contributed by John Pearson on 21 March, 2009 - 10:03am
Last updated 21 October, 2011 - 11:22am

Moved
Moved from Unidentified Galls.
… Charley Eiseman, 21 August, 2009 - 7:22pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Frass.
… Charley Eiseman, 23 April, 2009 - 10:45pm login or register to post comments

Frassed
Moved from ID Request.
… Will Chatfield-Taylor, 23 April, 2009 - 10:39pm login or register to post comments

Probably
This may be an example of one of the few oak galls that is NOT made by a cynipid wasp. Does it protrude on both sides of the leaf? If so, it is probably a gall of a Polystepha gall midge. My midge gall book lists five species that make galls like this. Four of them are found on black or scarlet oak, but P. pustuloides is found on "Quercus spp." Someone (possibly me, in a few weeks) should check to see if any cynipids make similar galls before concluding this is definitely a midge gall.
… Charley Eiseman, 21 March, 2009 - 1:56pm login or register to post comments

 
Both sides
Yes, the gall is visible on both sides; see close-ups of upper and lower surfaces of leaf (latter just added).
… John Pearson, 21 March, 2009 - 6:51pm login or register to post comments

 
Dissected view
I added a fourth photo showing the gall cut open.
… John Pearson, 11 April, 2009 - 7:33pm login or register to post comments

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