After leaving Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Site, I made a few observations along the road through Washington, Fayette, and Lee Counties, none of which are in a Texas CNC metroplex.
Second day of the 2024 City Nature Challenge: Global Project.
Yet another new species! Original host gall observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/167275394
On Scrophularia lucida, here the ovaries have swollen up to twice the expected capsule size, with the petals still attached.
On Scrophularia canum subsp. bicolor
Collected from a gall on Silphium asteriscus var. latifolium.
Gall was collected on 3 Oct 2023. Two Eurytoma sp. parasitoids emerged 25 Apr 2024. The gall and parasitoid adults were frozen (my incorrect assumption that they were inducers). I waited a week and fearing they were dead, and not wanting them to deteriorate, I opened the gall. I found eight adult inducers and five adult Eurytoma parasitoids. Additionally I found one larva that did not develop. All were dead but all of the adults appeared fully mature and several had begun tunneling out of the gall.
Observation for gall: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185363470
Observation for host plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185363280
Observation for Eurytoma parasitoids found inside the gall: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212771463
Observation for undeveloped larva: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212771469
Host: Hypochaeris glabra
Host ID based on previous observations (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136309317) from same spot. Could even be the same plant, this is the only Lactuca I could find and looks like a 2 year old stem (galls vacated)
Gall host: Hypochaeris glabra
Agoseris heterophylla var. heterophylla stem gall
Gall on Uropappus lindleyi
Undescribed species. Collected these galls for Louis Nastasi.
observation for the stem gall - on Silphium compositum
For host plant. Galls were collected except for the large moth like gall at the tip which was dropped and lost
Two integral stem galls on Brickellia californica. Collected to attempt rearing.
Distorted fruits of Scrophularia pinardii
ID for gall
ID for host plant at:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202230243
Probably undescribed, based on unpublished data
Abundant in patch of Silphium terebinthenaceum in ~30 yr-old tallgrass prairie restoration. Collected 3 individuals from 3 stems on 6/9/22 and 6/10/22. Reared in potato and carrot. Pupated on 8/15, two on 8/21. Eclosed respectively on 9/11, 9/24, and 10/03. All P. silphii. Subsequently released. All captive observations marked casual but can be found in the observation group field from those larval observations. Reared from S. laciniatum from this site as well this year.
same gall from a previous observation (should add link later, maybe I will). Is this wasp returning to a gall it made? If so, why? It doesn't look like it's emerging. Is it interacting with the gall of another insect- parasitizing it, maybe? I don't know a lot about cynipoid behavior- any insight is welcome!
Q. rubra
Initially collected as a C. rubida specimen. Dissection of several galls revealed chambers absolutely packed with larvae - possible inquilines? Tentatively identified as Ceroptresini by @moneykittens. Larvae preserved in 95% etOH, attempting to rear adult specimens.
Galls collected 11/5/2017; this is what they looked like in summer 2018 when the adults emerged. On Quercus ilicifolia.
1 inquiline emerged from Acraspis erinacae collected on Quercus alba on 10/14/2022 (cup#190, tree#269) <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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2023-05-10T11:32:57
Camera Name:
Stem gall on Roldana candicans. Above 9000 feet. Private property with limited access. Found during NAMA foray. San Francisco area.
Found on Lindley's Silverpuffs on 9/4/23. No one has been emerging @louisnastasi so I decided to dissect one yesterday in the "lab." (Based on a comment you made) Not much seems to be alive?
In a stem gall on Aristia junciformis
Gall in the stem of Rudbeckia hirta.
Larva in nut-like shell inside Leonurus quinquelobatus stem
gall on Hawthorn. there may be two different types of galls-one on stem and one at base of thorns. bottom pasture fm
Stem gall on hawthorn
Observation for stem gall wasp
Wekiwa Springs State Park
Huron shoreline. Seeds black and shiny. Some pods look to have been infected and formed gall.
Undescribed gall
There are patches of fading Microseris douglasii at Pulgas that could be checked for Microseris galls.
This observation is for the galls in the stem. I’ve collected a couple of these so I can see what emerges.
Malaise trap, blue oak woodland
I thought this was dried seeds but I broke one open and there’s just a hole inside. Wasp galls.
Stem gall on Lapsana communis
Stem gall on Lapsana communis
RCRP: Silphium Prairie.
Found on seed head of Silphium albiflorum
Lawther Prairie, Deer Park, TX
Silphium integrifolium x trifoliatum hybrid
黃鵪菜上的蟲癭
Galls on Youngia japonica, Asteraceae.
galls on Silphium compositum
Gall on Silphium
Nabalus sp @louisnatasi you need these?
These were all past flowering. Another example of the tall form of entire-leaved Silphium with ~dense leaves all the way up the stem that are found in riparian/floodplain habitats in the Hill Country. In the past, I had called these S. asteriscus though I honestly have no idea now. They are quite distinct from the upland forms I've seen in the Hill Country (S. gracile?) and those growing in sandier soils on the coastal plain (S. radula?).
on Silphium asteriscus
On Lactuca floridana
Probably Diptera but maybe Hymenoptera?
duplicated for host species ID
On Silphum.
Update: Emerged within the past day or so, I checked 25 Apr 2024 and there was at least one exit hole and one alive adult.