Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. It includes wasps, bees, and ants, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from Symphyta by the narrow "waist" (petiole) formed between the first two segments of the actual abdomen; the first abdominal segment is fused to the thorax, and is called the propodeum. Therefore, it is general practice, when discussing the body of an apocritan in a technical sense, to refer to the mesosoma and metasoma rather than the "thorax" and "abdomen", respectively. The evolution of a constricted waist was an important adaption for the parasitoid lifestyle of the ancestral apocritan, allowing more maneuverability of the female's ovipositor. The ovipositor either extends freely or is retracted, and may be developed into a stinger for both defense and paralyzing prey. Larvae are legless and blind, and either feed inside a host or in a nest cell provisioned by their mothers.
Diplolepis is a genus of approximately fifty species of gall-inducing wasps in the family Diplolepididae. The larvae induce galls on wild roses (Rosa), and rarely on domestic roses.
Gall wasps, also traditionally calledgallflies, 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 are known worldwide, with about 360 species of 36 different genera in Europe and some 800 species in North America.
The Cynipoidea are a moderate-sized hymenopteran superfamily that presently includes seven extant families and three extinct families, though others have been recognized in the past. The most familiar members of the group are phytophagous, especially as gall-formers, though the actual majority of included species are parasitoids or hyperparasitoids. They are typically glossy, dark, smooth wasps with somewhat compressed bodies and somewhat reduced wing venation. It is common for various metasomal segments to be fused in various ways, and the petiole is very short, when present.
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.
Synergini is a tribe of gall wasps in the subfamily Cynipinae.
Amphibolips is an American genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are about 57 described species in the genus Amphibolips with several others still undescribed.
Ibalia is a genus of ibaliid wasps in the family Ibaliidae. There are about 14 described species in Ibalia. All species are parasitoids of Siricidae species, which they seek out by detecting volatiles emitted by the fungi Siricidae larvae feed on, Amylostereum.
Heteroecus is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are about seven described species in the genus Heteroecus.
Diastrophus is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are at least eight described species in Diastrophus.
Disholcaspis is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are more than 40 species described in the genus Disholcaspis. Some Disholcaspis species induce galls that produce honeydew, a sweet liquid that attracts yellow jackets, ants, and bees. These insects then protect the galls from parasitic wasps.
Liposthenes is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. It forms galls on plants from the genus Glechoma. There are at least two described species in Liposthenes.
Callirhytis is a genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are more than 90 described species in Callirhytis. Wasps in this genus primarily induce wasps on oak trees in North America.
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.
Ceroptresini is a tribe of oak gall wasps in the family Cynipidae, and includes two genera: Ceroptres and Buffingtonella. All but one of the 22 species currently recognized are in Ceroptres. Ceroptresini, containing only Ceroptres, was first proposed as a tribe in 2015, and Buffingtonella was included the tribe in 2019 when the genus was first described. Species in this tribe are believed to be inquilines in galls induced by other gall wasps but this has not been confirmed.
Phylloteras is a North American genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae, tribe Cynipini .
Kokkocynips is an American genus of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae. There are about 8 described species in the genus Kokkocynips with several others still undescribed.
Diplolepis nodulosa, also known as the rose-stem gall wasp, is a species of cynipid wasp that induces bud galls on wild roses in North America. This galls induced by this species have a number of inquilines and parasitoids. D. nodulosa is assigned to a clade of Nearctic stem gallers within Diplolepis along with Diplolepis californica, Diplolepis oregonesis, Diplolepis spinosa, and Diplolepis triforma.
Diplolepididae is a family of small gall-inducing wasps. Until recently these wasps were included in the gall wasp family (Cynipidae) but were moved to their own family based on genetic and morphological features. It contains two subfamilies: Diplolepidinae and Pediaspidinae.
Belonocnema kinseyi is a species of gall wasp that forms galls on Quercus virginiana and Quercus fusiformis. There are both asexual and sexual generations. The asexual generation forms galls on the underside of leaves whereas the sexual generation form galls on the roots. It can be found in the United States, where it is known from Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. It, along with the other described Belonocnema species, have been used to study speciation.
