You need to have a good eye for small dark flying insects to distinguish one of the small Gall Wasps from the myriad insects abuzz everywhere where there is life. But you probably can’t miss the distinctive and characteristic galls that many species induce on plants, usually roses or oaks. These weird curiosities can be found on branches, twigs, leaves, buds and even roots depending on the species. In Alberta, galls on the stems or leaves of roses are most often encountered. Galls are often ball-shaped, spiny or even hairy like sphagnum moss in the large alien-looking mossyrose gall. They are often tinged red.
The adult wasps are small, only between 1 and about 9 mm long (1/8 to 3/8 in.). They are usually black or dark brown and have the characteristic narrow wasp waist and moderately long antennae that characterize wasps in general. The thorax has a humped appearance and abdomen of the female wasp is narrow and compressed from side to side. In some species the female has small wings, or no wings at all. The Rose Gall Wasps (Diplolepsis sp.) are unusual in that males are unknown, and females reproduce asexually.
The female Gall Wasp lays her eggs inside a specific host plant. Somehow, the interaction between the insect and the host plant induces the plant to grow a characteristic, often fantastically shaped gall. Galls usually do little damage to the host plant. The hatching larvae develop inside the gall, where they are protected from obvious large predators. They are not safe from certain other gall-invading species such as certain Ichneumon wasps. Often, the wasp that induced the gall is not the same as the successfully emerging species.
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BRENT JOHNER
for serving as the society's PAST PRESIDENT this year