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Photo#464605
Gall: What's the Big Attraction? - Disholcaspis cinerosa

Gall: What's the Big Attraction? - Disholcaspis cinerosa
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA
October 13, 2010
I went to get my mail and glanced above me to the branch of a Live Oak which was very busy. These are not all the same gall but they were within two feet of each other and pictures were taken in about a five-minute time span. Most of the galls have some of this mold/mildew on them. (This was one of those times when I made quite a spectacle of myself out on a step-ladder on the sidewalk, pointing a camera at the leaves of a tree. My immediate neighbors know me, but drivers-by must wonder....) [Edit: This original post included five other species of bees and wasps which I frassed but kept this image with the information.] [Second edit: The pictures I frassed were of a Honey Bee, Polistes exclamans, Vespula maculifrons, Vespula squamosa, and an unknown tiny wasp.]

Moved
Moved from Gall Wasps.

Gall is Disholcaspis cinerosa
Gall is Disholcaspis cinerosa

Euodynerus foraminatus, male
Not sure what he is doing there. Perhaps just perching.

Moved
Moved from ID Request. The mold/mildew is called "sooty mold" and grows only on honeydew. In fact, there are species of sooty mold that are specific to the honeydew of particular insects.

Think it's a potter wasp
I don't know why these normally nectar-feeding insects are crawling on galls, but I will be interested to know what is going on.

 
I've noticed the same thing o
I've noticed the same thing on a tree here in Austin. I think this weekend I'll go back with a more powerful lens and take more pictures.
http://victorspictures.com/galls

 
Thanks--
I knew most of the insects but I too thought it interesting that they were all over these galls--and I'd like to have my suspicions confirmed on the indentification of the gall itself--then I'll frass these since they're of different insects.

 
One possibility...
According to this article, "Many gall wasp species are particularly vulnerable to parasitism or attack by other predators. Some wasps have evolved a further protection besides the gall itself: These larvae convert normal plant starches to sugar and the gall exudes this honeydew in copious quantities. The sweet liquid attracts hordes of ants, bees, and yellow jackets. While feeding, these naturally pugnacious insects prevent any other insects from gaining access."

 
Honeydew--
I wondered if that might be the case--honeydew seems always to be accompanied by the mold/mildew. Thanks! And what an interesting article!

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