Gall wasps, also incorrectly called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this generally very small creature (1–8 mm) are known worldwide, with about 360 species of 36 different genera in Europe and some 800 species in North America.
Neuroterus is a genus of gall wasps that induce galls on oaks in which the wasp larvae live and feed. Some species produce galls that fall off the host plant and 'jump' along the ground due to the movement of the larvae within.
Andricus is a genus of oak gall wasps in the family Cynipidae.
Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps. It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 936 to 1000 recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks. The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic. Cynipini wasps can act as ecosystem engineers. Their galls can become hosts of inquilines, and the wasps themselves are hosts to parasitoids.
Andricus quercuscalifornicus, or the California gall wasp, is a small wasp species that induces oak apple galls on white oaks, primarily the Valley Oak but also other species such as Quercus berberidifolia. The California gall wasp is considered an ecosystem engineer, capable of manipulating the growth of galls for their own development. It is found from Washington, Oregon, and California to northern regions of Mexico. Often multiple wasps in different life stages occupy the same gall. The induced galls help establish complex insect communities, promoting the diversification in niche differentiation. Furthermore, the adaptive value of these galls could be attributed their ecological benefits such as nutrition, provision of microenvironment, and enemy avoidance.
Bassettia is a genus of gall wasps found in North America.
Bassettia pallida is a species of gall wasp found in the Southern United States. This species was described by American entomologist William Harris Ashmead in 1896. B. pallida reproduces asexually in galls it induces on oak trees. The parasite Euderus set, a eulophid wasp, has B. pallida as a host and manipulates its behavior.
Diplolepis mayri is a gall inducing insect causing galls on wild roses in the Western Palaearctic. Diploleis mayri is less frequent on rose shrubs than D. rosae.
Synergini is a tribe of gall wasps in the subfamily Cynipinae.
Diplolepis fructuum is a hymenopteran gall wasp which causes a galls on wild roses. The species is closely related to D. rosae and D. mayri but it produces its galls in the seeds of wild roses thus damaging its hips. The species is distributed mainly in the Northern regions of the Middle East, the Caucasus region and Northern shores of the Black Sea.
Callirhytis is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are more than 90 described species in Callirhytis.
Diplolepis ignota is a species of gall wasp (Cynipidae). Galls in which the larvae live and feed are formed on the leaves of several species of wild rose (Rosa). Individual galls are single-chambered and spherical, but multiple galls can coalesce into irregularly rounded galls.
Andricus dimorphus, also called the clustered midrib gall wasp, is a species of oak gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Galls in which the larvae live and feed are formed in clusters along the midrib on the underside of oak leaves.
Synergus japonicus is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Whereas most gall wasps create the galls in which they live, Synergus japonicus is an inquiline species, living in the gall created by another species of wasp. It is native to Japan, China and Russia.
Andricus quercuspetiolicola, also called the oak petiole gall wasp, is a species of oak gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Galls in which the larvae live and feed are formed along the midrib or petiole of white oak leaves.
Philonix is a genus of oak gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. Species in this genus are only known from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The larvae of Philonix wasps induce galls on white oaks that are typically spherical, soft and fleshy. Galls are usually formed on the underside of leaves. Adult wasps are similar in appearance to species in the genus Acraspis. Many gall wasps have alternate sexual and asexual generations, but this has not been documented in Philonix.
Disholcaspis quercusmamma, the oak rough bulletgall wasp, is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. The quercus in its name is the genus name for oak, while "mamma" is Latin for "breast", presumably a reference to the "nipple" on the gall.
Andricus quercusstrobilanus, the lobed oak gall wasp, is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae, found in North America. The quercus in its specific name is the genus name for oak, while "strobilus" is derived from the Greek strobilo which means "cone", a reference to the cone shape of the gall; thus the gall is sometimes called pine cone oak gall.
Phylloteras volutellae, the conical oak gall wasp, is a species of gall wasp , tribe Cynipini , found in North America.
