You’d probably never notice the Mossyrose Gall wasp, but you couldn’t miss the large hairy gall that the wasp induces on roses, often the redleaf rose. It has been described as looking like a big reddish ball of spaghnum moss. At least one person has likened it to something from outer space – like those Tribbles from Star Trek.
The adult wasps are small, dark coloured wasps only a couple of millimetres long. All of the Rose Gall Wasps (Diplolepis sp.) are unusual in that males are unknown, and females reproduce asexually.
Rose Gall Wasps 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.
The female wasp lays her eggs inside the stem of the rose. Somehow, the interaction between the insect and the rose induces the rose to grow the characteristic 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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Where to find Mossyrose Gall Wasps in Alberta
This species does not occur in the Weaselhead/Glenmore Park area. Nora Bryan
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BRENT JOHNER
for serving as the society's PAST PRESIDENT this year