Favoritos de madily

Oak Gall Wasp (tentatively Feron sp.) collected as a gall on Engelmann Oak on 2/18/23 at Santa Ysabel Preserve by @madily. See discussion here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149459575

Two batches of photos:

1) Live adult photos are of the live wasp, taken through the Ziploc plastic and then photoshopped. Too afraid I'll lose it if I do anything else for now.

2) Wasp died in the Ziploc 3/5/2023. Dead adult photos taken with Olympus TG-6 and added to this observation the same day. Will ship specimen to @megachile for better photography.

Possibilities: In the bag @madily gave me to deliver to the Norcal oak gall fans, I have two Englemanns twigs. The first has a single 'Feron' gall, which is still attached to the underside of its leaf and appears to have an exit hole at the top (which may have been there already, eg, an empty gall). The second twig has a leaf with both an Andricus reticulatus and a Feron gall, next to each other. This was iNatted en situ: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149766861 That Feron gall has since fallen off the leaf and does not appear to have an exit hole. The Andricus reticulatus gall does have an exit hole now, but that may have been there before.

Therefore... this adult could be 1) the Feron sp. inducer, 2) a parasitoid wasp; or 3) or Andricus reticulatus. Or something else that hitchhiked on the twigs, but that seems unlikely. There may be other possibilities as well!

A non-exhaustive search for online photos of adult Andricus reticulatus came up empty. Does anyone have one?

@madily @megachile @merav @nancyasquith @garth

On Mentzelia involucrata. Not certain on the ID, but the limited information on Mentzelia stem galls implicates a Cecidomyiid. See e.g. https://www.gallformers.org/host/1859 (on M. multiflora) and this old record on a Mentzelia sp. https://books.google.com/books?id=z8lOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA27&lpg=RA2-PA27&dq=mentzelia+gall&source=bl&ots=Jj5wk4Qs10&sig=ACfU3U33pEZkwLjD9P0dURpVRsycZbdm7g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLj7PTz5v4AhW9oI4IHa8kATgQ6AF6BAgfEAM#v=onepage&q=mentzelia%20&f=false

On Mentzelia veatchiana. Not certain on the ID, but the limited information on Mentzelia stem galls implicates a Cecidomyiid. See e.g. https://www.gallformers.org/host/1859 (on M. multiflora) and this old record on a Mentzelia sp. https://books.google.com/books?id=z8lOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA27&lpg=RA2-PA27&dq=mentzelia+gall&source=bl&ots=Jj5wk4Qs10&sig=ACfU3U33pEZkwLjD9P0dURpVRsycZbdm7g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLj7PTz5v4AhW9oI4IHa8kATgQ6AF6BAgfEAM#v=onepage&q=mentzelia%20&f=false

On Mentzelia veatchiana. Not certain on the ID, but the limited information on Mentzelia stem galls implicates a Cecidomyiid. See e.g. https://www.gallformers.org/host/1859 (on M. multiflora) and this old record on a Mentzelia sp. https://books.google.com/books?id=z8lOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA27&lpg=RA2-PA27&dq=mentzelia+gall&source=bl&ots=Jj5wk4Qs10&sig=ACfU3U33pEZkwLjD9P0dURpVRsycZbdm7g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLj7PTz5v4AhW9oI4IHa8kATgQ6AF6BAgfEAM#v=onepage&q=mentzelia%20&f=false

On Mentzelia micrantha. Not certain on the ID, but the limited information on Mentzelia stem galls implicates a Cecidomyiid. See e.g. https://www.gallformers.org/host/1859 (on M. multiflora) and this old record on a Mentzelia sp. https://books.google.com/books?id=z8lOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA27&lpg=RA2-PA27&dq=mentzelia+gall&source=bl&ots=Jj5wk4Qs10&sig=ACfU3U33pEZkwLjD9P0dURpVRsycZbdm7g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLj7PTz5v4AhW9oI4IHa8kATgQ6AF6BAgfEAM#v=onepage&q=mentzelia%20&f=false

On Mentzelia micrantha. Not certain on the ID, but the limited information on Mentzelia stem galls implicates a Cecidomyiid. See e.g. https://www.gallformers.org/host/1859 (on M. multiflora) and this old record on a Mentzelia sp. https://books.google.com/books?id=z8lOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA27&lpg=RA2-PA27&dq=mentzelia+gall&source=bl&ots=Jj5wk4Qs10&sig=ACfU3U33pEZkwLjD9P0dURpVRsycZbdm7g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLj7PTz5v4AhW9oI4IHa8kATgQ6AF6BAgfEAM#v=onepage&q=mentzelia%20&f=false

Host: Chamise. Apparently an undescribed cone gall type; several of these found on and near same plant that had Eriophyes adenostomae mite galls. Very small. Body of gall is visible between bracts, unlike other Chamise rosette galls I have observed.

Asteromyia modesta is only gall inducer I found for this genus, but these galls look different--fuzzy and seem to arise from stem at base of leaf; fingernail dissection attempted--not sure if one chamber or more than one

Host Artemisia dracunculus. Attributed to Rhopalomyia sp. in this paper. Multi-chambered gall, contrary to the paper's entry

Gall on Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon). The only reports in the scientific literature for galls on this plant species are for midges in the Cecidomyiidae. I'm putting this family in as a placeholder, until more is known.

Bud galls on Red Alder, possibly a new/undescribed species. Latter images show midge larvae found inside this gall and then, 2 small exterior holes that could be exit holes from previous emergences.
@megachile, @nancyasquith, @madily, @kemper

Raised some larvae from a mystery gall found on Heliotropium curassavicum and this is what emerged. See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88902184 for more details.

I'll try to get better photos tomorrow when the light is better.

Possibly Russo's 'Basket Gall Wasp' (Unknown #6) on Blue Oak. See Russo (2021), pg. 127. Russo describes this as occurring only on Blue Oaks and known only from the Redding CA area perhaps 100 miles NW from here, and as occurring only on dorsal surfaces. These were present more or less equally on both dorsal and ventral leaf surfaces.

Best guess as to the maker of these galls on Epilobium ciliata (Fringed Willowherb.) Moths of this group are known to gall the stems of other Epilobium species such as CA Fuchsia. @ceiseman, @megachile, @nancyasquith, @madily

I collected a Corethrogyne filaginifolia plant with multiple galls on 10/1 and placed two flowers and one gall in a sealed container. Today I noticed the insect in the container and took these photos of it.