Lymantria dispar, also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. Lymantria dispar is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as L. d. dispar and L. d. japonica being clearly identifiable without ambiguity. Lymantria dispar has been introduced to several continents and is now additionally found as an invasive species in Africa, North America and South America. The polyphagous larvae live on a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees and can cause severe damage in years of mass reproduction. Due to these features, Lymantria dispar is listed among the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.
Toxicodendron diversilobum, commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting conifer and mixed broadleaf forests, woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral biomes. Peak flowering occurs in May. Like other members of the genus Toxicodendron, T. diversilobum causes itching and allergic rashes in most people after contact by touch or smoke inhalation. Despite its name, it is not closely related to oaks, nor is it a true tree.
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives. It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons, enclosed in a tough shell known as the pericarp, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns are 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm on the fat side. Acorns take between 5 and 24 months to mature; see the list of Quercus species for details of oak classification, in which acorn morphology and phenology are important factors.
The Lymantriinae are a subfamily of moths of the family Erebidae. The taxon was erected by George Hampson in 1893.
Orgyia leucostigma, the white-marked tussock moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. The caterpillar is very common especially in late summer in eastern North America, extending as far west as Texas, California, and Alberta.
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal California; in interior valleys of the Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges; and in a ring around the California Central Valley grasslands. The dominant trees are oaks, interspersed with other broadleaf and coniferous trees, with an understory of grasses, herbs, geophytes, and California native plants.
Orgyia is a genus of tussock moths of the family Erebidae. The genus was described by Ochsenheimer in 1810. The species are cosmopolitan, except for the Neotropical realm.
The brush mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in mountainous areas of Mexico and the western United States at altitudes over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
Phoradendron villosum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Pacific mistletoe and oak mistletoe. It is native to western North America from Oregon south into Mexico, where it grows in oak woodland and similar habitat.
Orgyia pseudotsugata, the Douglas-fir tussock moth, is a moth of the subfamily Lymantriinae first described by James Halliday McDunnough in 1921. It is found in western North America. Its population periodically irrupts in cyclical outbreaks. The caterpillars feed on the needles of Douglas fir, true fir, and spruce in summer, and moths are on the wing from July or August to November.
An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks. In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the community is named for the dominance of oak trees, the understory vegetation is often diverse and includes many species of grasses, sedges, forbs, ferns, shrubs, and other plants.
Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the British Columbia to Durango, Mexico. In the south and east, ponderosa pine forest is the climax forest, while in the more northern part of its range, it can transition to Douglas-fir or grand fir, or white fir forests. Understory species depends on location. Fire suppression has led to insect outbreaks in ponderosa pine forests.
Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center is a 103-acre nature conservation park administered by the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, and located at 10503 N. Oak Hills Parkway, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810. It is open to the public Tuesday - Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. for a nominal fee. The facility was opened as BREC's first nature conservation based park on 17 May 1997.
John Martin Miller was an American entomologist who worked in the Bureau of Entomology in the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1911 to 1936. He was in charge of the Forest Insect Laboratory at Berkeley from 1928 to 1942, and was known for his research on bark beetles in forests of the western United States. Born in Parlier, California, he graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Zoology in 1908. He died March 31, 1952, in Mexico City, while working as Consulting Entomologist with the Mexican government through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Cystotheca lanestris, the live oak witch's broom fungus, is a species of mildew that infects buds and induces stem galls called witch's brooms on oak trees in California, Arizona, and Mexico in North America. Witch's brooms are "abnormal clusters of shoots that are thickened, elongated, and highly branched." This fungus infects coast live oaks, interior live oaks, canyon live oaks, valley oaks, and tanoaks, and is most commonly found along the coast. Research published in 2023 newly describes this fungus as also growing in association with Quercus laceyi and Q. toumeyi.
Inonotus andersonii, also known as oak canker-rot and heart rot, is a species of resupinate polypore fungus that forms fruiting bodies underneath tree bark. I. andersonii induces canker rot in oak, hickory, cottonwood, and willow trees.
Malacosoma constricta, also known as the Pacific tent caterpillar, is a species of moth endemic to North America. Malacosoma constricta is known from California, Oregon, and Washington and is reported only on oaks. In California, subspecies M. constrictum austrinum is found from Santa Barbara County southward; M. constrictum constrictum occurs from Los Angeles County northward.
Platycotis minax is a species of leafhopper native to California. It was first described by diplomat and entomologist Frederic Webster Goding in 1892. According to the U.S. Forest Service, in southern California P. minax is found on coast live oak and possibly other oaks.
Stegophylla essigi, also known as the California woolly oak aphid, is a species of North American aphid. It had been found on many California oaks, including blue oaks, valley oaks, Oregon white oaks, coast live oaks, interior live oaks, California black oaks, and scrub oaks.
Synanthedon resplendens, also known as the sycamore borer moth, is species of a clearwing moth native to western North America. Larva of this moth live under the bark of sycamore, ceanothus, coast live oak, and, on rare occasions, avocado trees. Sycamore hosts include California sycamore, Arizona sycamore, and American sycamore trees. Coast live oak is a confirmed host, but this moth likely uses many or most other western oaks as well.
Moth
Moth
Tussock larva on coast live oak
