oak leaf galls - Belonocnema kinseyi

Moved

Moved from Belonocnema treatae.

… john and jane balaban, 27 February, 2021 - 10:49pm

The parasitoid belongs ...

... to the family Eulophidae, subfamily Tetrastichinae, a group that is commonly associated with galls.

… Bob Zuparko, 7 March, 2018 - 4:37pm

Moved

Moved from Gall Wasps.

… Ken Schneider, 8 March, 2010 - 9:41am

Moved

Moved from Eurytomidae.

The galls are definitely cynipid galls, regardless of what emerged from them.

… Charley Eiseman, 10 June, 2009 - 9:46pm

Moving to family page -

although with the caveat that the galls might be unrelated to the wasp...

… Ken Schneider, 10 June, 2009 - 11:08am

Perhaps it would be best to j

Perhaps it would be best to just remove the galls, so there will be no confusion. I do not know how to remove just the single picture.

… Virginia Malone, 11 June, 2009 - 8:31am

No, keep them

It may be possible for someone to identify the galls more specifically eventually, especially if you know what kind of oak this is. And even if not, this is important life history information--it's quite possible that this eurytomid only develops in this kind of gall. I just added some text below the photo to eliminate confusion. Feel free to edit it to your liking.

… Charley Eiseman, 11 June, 2009 - 9:54am

This leaf is from a Texas Liv

This leaf is from a Texas Live Oak, Quercus fusiformis.

… Virginia Malone, 11 June, 2009 - 12:20pm login or register to post comments

Eurytomidae...

There are several chalcid subfamilies whose larvae enjoy feeding on gall-making insects. Many eurytomids are primary, solitary ectoparasitoids of gall-forming fly, wasp, or beetle larvae. This seems to fit the description better than others including a hairy appearance, semi-quadrate head, dull black color, and punctate head and thorax. Nice find Virginia.

See reference here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/57794

… Ross Hill, 20 May, 2009 - 4:04pm

Brown spots

It's conceivable, but they may also be another type of gall. As for the wasp in your first photo, I'm not certain but it looks to me like it may be a chalcid parasitoid rather than a cynipid gall wasp. Did it emerge from one of the galls?

… Charley Eiseman, 18 May, 2009 - 9:25am

Chalcid

The insect did NOT emerge from one of the galls. However, I have noticed a high number of the them on the underside of the leaves of a live oak tree, usually one or two per leaf. The galls have been forming on the new leaves. Nearly every leaf on the tree has the galls and most appear in a single row midway between the outer edge and the mid-vein of the leaf. There is always some little brown spots where no galls form in this line. Very few leaves have escaped damage. I have tried to bring some galls inside to watch for emerging insects - no luck.

… Virginia Malone, 18 May, 2009 - 9:58am

gall wasp and oviposition scars

Hi Virginia and everyone-
The cynipid that formed this gall is the asexual generation of Belonocnema treatae. It actually forms a gall on the roots during its sexual generation through the winter and early spring.

The brown spots you likely observed were one of two things associated with B. treatae: (1.) failed galls - the tree fights back against the gall former by killing galls before they can grow really big OR parasitoids kill the gall former during development; both scenarios result in a very small brown gall; (2.) the gall wasp also leaves oviposition scars that result in a very faint brown spot and a indentation into the leaf tissue.

I hope this helps.

… Scott P. Egan, 8 March, 2010 - 8:40am