Ocellate gall midge
Acericecis ocellaris
The ocellate gall midge is a tiny fly that lives on maple trees in North America. Its babies make round spots on maple leaves that look like little eyes. These spots are called galls, and the baby grows up safely inside one.
Lives in
North America, on maple trees
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite people, and the spots do not really hurt the tree.
What does it eat?
Its babies live inside a little gall on a maple leaf and feed on the leaf there.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Ocellate gall midge about 8 km/h (5 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The spots it makes on leaves look like little blisters.
2
It lives on many kinds of maple, such as red maple, sugar maple and silver maple.
3
A scientist first described it in 1862, and it was the first species put in its group.
you asked
Most asked questions about Ocellate gall midge
?Is the ocellate gall midge dangerous?
No. It is a tiny fly that does not bite people.
?What are the spots on maple leaves?
Some round spots are galls made by this tiny fly. Its baby grows up inside the spot.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Acericecis ocellaris
- Named by
- Osten-Sacken, 1862
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Cecidomyiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Cecidomyiidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Maple eyespot gall, Maple leaf spot gall
Where the facts come from
- Acericecis ocellaris (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 Adam Kranz. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Housefly
New World screwworm fly
Lovebug
Tsetse fly
Common fruit fly
Asian tiger mosquito
Giant lacewing
Giant walkingstick
Forest caterpillar hunter
Spruce beetle
Definite tussock moth
Woolly beech aphid