Species: Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum)
Family: Gall Wasps (CYNIPIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: Widespread
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Gall Wasps (CYNIPIDAE)
Gall wasps are wasps that induce galls on plants, which aid the development of their larvae. They are generally small insects.
Galls develop in the tissue of plants after the female insect lays eggs. After the eggs hatch into larvae, the galls provide nourishment for them and protection of them.
C. Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum)
The Spangle Gall Wasp is a small wasp that lays its eggs on the underside of Oak tree leaves. These eggs develop over winter and the insects emerge in April, laying their own eggs in similar places in the same tree, beginning the cycle again. As the eggs develop inside the tissue of oak leaves, flat discs with a raised central part show up as rust-coloured blotches.
The wasps - and the leaf galls that they produce - are widespread in Britain.
This species - along with mites - are exceptions to the species listed on this website in that we cannot show their photographs directly, but we know that the galls that they have created are proof of their earlier presence.
Images
Spangle Gall Wasp
The Spangle Gall Wasp is a small wasp that lays its eggs on the underside of Oak tree leaves. As the eggs develop inside the tissue of oak leaves, flat discs with a raised central part show up as rust-coloured blotches.
