Druon ignotum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Druon ignotum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Galls on bur oak | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Cynipidae |
| Genus: | Druon |
| Species: | D. ignotum |
| Binomial name | |
| Druon ignotum (Bassett, 1881) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Druon ignotum is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae.[1]
This species is widely distributed in central and eastern North America.[1][2] Larvae induce galls on white oaks, including bur oak, swamp white oak, overcup oak, and post oak.[3]
Like many oak gall wasps, this species has two generations per year - one asexual (or agamic) and one sexual, with each generation producing distinct galls.[2] Galls of the agamic generation are small, ovoid, and occur in clusters along veins on the underside of leaves.[2] They are covered by woolly cream- or pink-colored hair that becomes brown over the winter and sometimes wears away.[2][4] Females emerge from these galls early in spring and oviposit in the buds of host oak trees.[2] This induces the galls of the sexual generation, which are small ovoid cells within buds and young shoots; they cause little or no externally visible deformity.[2] Both male and female adult wasps emerge from these galls and mate, with mated females then ovipositing on the underside of oak leaves, inducing the galls of the agamic generation.[2]
