Glechoma gall wasp
Liposthenes glechomae
The glechoma gall wasp is a tiny wasp that lives on a creeping plant called ground ivy. Its young make the plant grow round bumps called galls on the leaves. The young wasps live and grow safely inside these bumps.
Lives in
Europe, northern Asia and North America, wherever ground ivy grows
What does it eat?
Its young feed inside the galls on ground ivy leaves.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Glechoma gall wasp about 22 km/h (14 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
A gall starts as a small red spot on a leaf and can grow almost as long as the leaf itself.
2
The galls are green when they are big.
3
In North America both the wasp and its ground ivy plant came from far away and are not native there.
you asked
Most asked questions about Glechoma gall wasp
?What is a gall?
A gall is a bump that a plant grows around the young wasp. The young wasp lives and eats inside it.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Liposthenes glechomae
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Cynipidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Cynipidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Liposthenes glechomae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Christian Hummert ( Ixitixel ). CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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