grub in acorn - Callirhytis

Moved

Moved from ID Request. All of the possibilities are in the genus Callirhytis. Weld's (1) photo of C. fructuosa galls looks a lot like this; he says C. fructicola galls are similar. Both of these are in acorns of the red oak group. Four other Callirhytis species are listed as making "stone galls inside a mature acorn in the fall."

… Charley Eiseman, 13 March, 2010 - 7:33am

Gall wasps, maybe?

This page on acorn insects states " Other galls are inconspicuous and can be found only by opening acorns and examining the contents. Internal galls usually consist of small, stony cells ernbedded in the acorn meat." There is an illustration (scroll down to fig. 8) that resembles what you've found.

Just another possibility to consider.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 12 March, 2010 - 7:20am

I think that's a good bet.

Jody, if you know what kind of oak this was from (or can post images of intact acorns, caps, and other things that might help with ID of the tree), I can take a crack at figuring out what cynipid could be responsible for this.

… Charley Eiseman, 12 March, 2010 - 8:28pm

i'll post some images as i'm terrible with trees

… J. Anderson, 13 March, 2010 - 6:54am

Date?

If you still have it, this cannot be the correct date (1/1/04); please fix it.

… Beatriz Moisset, 11 March, 2010 - 7:01pm

edit: fixed

my camera still thinks it's midnight on january first, 2004 :)

… J. Anderson, 11 March, 2010 - 7:12pm

Kodaks forget what time it is

The EXIF data says you have a Kodak. I used to have one and it frequently reset its date to January 1 of the year of or before manufacture. Sometimes it would tell me it had lost its mind. Usually I found out much later. It happens when the software crashes or the hardware loses battery power for too long.

There's a date setting feature somewhere in the setup menu. This page might help: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/kodak/cx7530/kodak-cx7530-review-3.html

… John F. Carr, 11 March, 2010 - 9:13pm

Date

Setting the date in the camera is invaluable. I don't need to write down the date because the info is there attached to the photo; and also it is good to set the time of day.
I think that this may be a fly larva, but can't be sure. The larval cases are pretty odd. Did this larva actually come from one of them? And, did they come from inside an acorn? What is the material the cases are made of? It looks like clay, but that would be very strange inside an acorn. But then again, I don't know very much; just curious.

… Beatriz Moisset, 11 March, 2010 - 7:28pm

i'm not really sure how to

… J. Anderson, 11 March, 2010 - 7:28pm