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Common Spangle Gall Wasp
Neuroterus quercusbaccarum
The common spangle gall on the underside of leaves and the currant gall on the male catkins or occasionally the leaves, develop as chemically induced distortions on pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), or sessile oak (Quercus petraea) trees, caused by the cynipid wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum which has both agamic and bisexual generations.
Previous names or synonyms for this species are Neuroterus baccarum, N. lenticularis, N. malpighii, Cynips lenticularis, C. quercus-baccarum, Spathegaster baccarum, S. varius, S. interruptor.
From the article Neuroterus quercusbaccarum on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
The distribution and numbers of spangle galls on mature oak trees differs from that on young trees; the differences could be partly due to the earlier date of leaf opening on mature trees. No spatial zonation of spangle galls was apparent on the mature trees. Galls on catkins are less parasitised than those on leaves.
Wikipedia: “Distribution on the leaves”
What it does
The male and female of the bisexual generation emerge in June from the currant galls and after mating the fertilised eggs are laid in the lower epidermis of the oak leaves. The spangle galls develop over the winter and the insects emerge in April, laying their eggs in the catkins or lower epidermis. The cycle, an alternation of generation, then begins again.
Wikipedia: “Life cycle”
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Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Neuroterus quercusbaccarum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 55598.