Andricus confertus, the convoluted gall wasp, is a fairly common species of cynipid wasp that produces galls on oak trees in California in North America. This gall, with its pink, brain-like appearance, is actually a cluster of galls.[1] In summer, parthenogenetic female larvae induce these galls on the underside of valley oak leaves, along the midrib. Adult wasps emerge the following spring.[1] These adult females are brown with lighter markings, and are 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) in length.[2]
Andricus confertus | |
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Castle Rock Regional Recreation Area, Walnut Creek, California, 2013 | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Cynipidae |
Genus: | Andricus |
Species: | A. confertus
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Binomial name | |
Andricus confertus McCracken & Egbert, 1922
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References
edit- ^ a b Russo, Ronald A. (2021). Plant Galls of the Western United States. Princeton University Press. pp. 108–109. doi:10.1515/9780691213408. ISBN 978-0-691-21340-8. LCCN 2020949502. S2CID 238148746.
- ^ McCracken, Mary Isabel; Egbert, Dorothy Barnes (1922). California Gall-making Cynipidae: With Descriptions of New Species. Stanford University Publications. pp. 32–33.