Live oak apple gall wasp
Amphibolips quercuspomiformis
The live oak apple gall wasp is a tiny wasp that makes oak trees grow little homes for its babies. In summer, round spiky balls called galls grow on the stems of live oaks. Each gall starts green or red and later turns brown.
Lives in
California, on coast live oak and interior live oak trees
What does it eat?
Its larvae live inside the galls and feed on the oak from the inside.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Live oak apple 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
The summer galls can be up to 4 cm wide and are covered in short spines.
2
It has two kinds of families that take turns: one with only females, and one with males and females.
3
The spring galls are tiny and shaped like little mushrooms on the leaves.
you asked
Most asked questions about Live oak apple gall wasp
?What is an oak apple gall?
It is a round ball that an oak grows around the egg of this little wasp. The baby wasp lives inside.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amphibolips quercuspomiformis
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Cynipidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Cynipidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Apple gall wasp
Where the facts come from
- Amphibolips quercuspomiformis (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 Jengod. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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