Gall of Live Oak Apple Gall Wasp (Callirhytis quercuspomiformis, Cynipidae) on Coast Live Oak

This is a golf ball-size "oak apple gall" growing on a branch of a Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) tree. It is the gall of the Live Oak Apple Gall Wasp (Callirhytis quercuspomiformis) in the family Cynipidae of the order Hymenoptera. (San Marcos Pass, 17 February 2012)

I noticed this gall from our upstairs porch, and got the image with my "big glass" Tamron 200-500 mm lens. These galls have more interesting textures than the "oak apple" galls on white oaks in my [Next] photo, but they are not as common. I can see some exit holes where the wasps got away. (San Marcos Pass, 17 February 2012)

Like many of our oak gall wasps, these wasps have two distinct generations. The spring wasps make different galls. See my photo at: www.fotolog.com/treebeard/20350708

Galls are abnormal plant growths caused by an invading organism. Many (including this one) are caused by tiny specialized Gall Wasps (Cynipidae) which lay eggs that are nurtured by the abnormal growth they initiate. They are fascinating because they involve genetic interactions between plant and animal.

Taken in: United States / California (show map)

Taken on: February 17, 2012

Tags:

oak apple gall

Coast Live Oak

gall

Live Oak Apple Gall Wasp

Callirhytis quercuspomiformis

Cynipidae

San Marcos Pass

California « less

Sets appears in: • Galls

Groups appears in: • Plant Galls

Camera: Nikon D300, f/10.0, 1/320 sec, 360mm (=540mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D300
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	360mm (35mm equivalent: 540mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	-1/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Fine Weather
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.1.10
Show full info

Stats: 1,130 views

go back

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder