Larger empty oak apple wasp
Amphibolips quercusinanis
The larger empty oak apple wasp is a tiny wasp that makes the oak tree build a home for its baby. In spring, a round ball as big as an apple grows on an oak leaf bud. Inside, the baby wasp lives in a little room and eats.
Lives in
Central and eastern North America, on red oaks
What does it eat?
Its larva lives inside the oak apple and feeds on soft white threads that the tree makes.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Larger empty oak apple 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 oak apple can be up to 5 cm wide.
2
The oak apple starts green and turns brown as it gets older.
3
After the wasp flies out, the white threads inside fall apart and the ball is left empty. That is where its name comes from.
you asked
Most asked questions about Larger empty oak apple wasp
?What is an oak apple?
It is a round ball that grows on an oak tree when this little wasp lays an egg there. The baby wasp lives inside.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amphibolips quercusinanis
- Group
- Wasps and hornets
- Family
- Cynipidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Cynipidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Amphibolips quercusinanis (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 Beatriz Moisset. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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