Thimbleberry Gall Wasp

Diastrophus kincaidii

The Thimbleberry Gall Wasp is a tiny insect that makes special homes called galls on thimbleberry plants. These galls look like little bumps and provide a safe place for the wasp's babies to grow.

Lebensraum: Forests

Aussehen

The Thimbleberry Gall Wasp is a tiny, dark-bodied insect, typically black or dark brown, with a shiny exoskeleton. Its small size and transparent wings distinguish it, but it's most often identified by the distinctive, often reddish or green, spindle-shaped galls it creates on thimbleberry stems.

ReichAnimaliaStammArthropodaKlasseInsectaOrdnungHymenopteraFamilieCynipidaeGattungDiastrophus

Thimbleberry Gall Wasp

Kategorie

Insekten

Seltenheit

Common

Gefahr

1/5 · Sehr gering

Snaps

Mach den ersten Snap!

Interessante Fakten

Each tiny wasp creates a unique living sculpture!

Galls can look like berries or strange plant potatoes!

Its larvae turn plant cells into a personal pantry!

Some gall wasps are all female, no dads needed!

Besondere Fähigkeiten

Thimbleberry Gall Wasp can cleverly manipulate plants to grow protective homes called galls because of special chemicals it injects.

Thimbleberry Gall Wasp has a unique ability to trigger a specific plant response that helps them create safe nurseries for their young.

Thimbleberry Gall Wasp can inject powerful chemicals that force the host plant to grow a custom-designed, nutrient-rich shelter for its larvae.

Maße und Details

Flügelspannweite: 4-8 mm
Größe: 2-4 mm
Lebenserwartung: 7-14 Tage
Anzahl der Beine: 6

Ernährung und Fütterung

Adults might sip nectar, but larvae get all their nutrition by consuming the plant tissue inside their gall homes.

Altersunterschiede: Larvae consume plant tissue inside galls; adults may feed on nectar or honeydew, or not feed at all.

Hauptnahrung

Gall tissue
Nectar
Honeydew

Ökologische Zusammenhänge

depends on

Thimbleberry

Rubus parviflorus

Its larvae rely on this plant to grow their protective gall homes.

parasitizes

Perplexing Torymid Wasp

Torymus perplexus

Its larvae develop inside the Thimbleberry Gall Wasp's galls.

eaten by

Steller's Jay

Cyanocitta stelleri

This bird sometimes pecks at galls to find the larvae inside.

Merkmale

Einzelgänger

Einzelgänger leben den größten Teil ihres Lebens allein und interagieren mit Artgenossen nur zur Paarung oder zur Aufzucht der Jungen.

Bestäubermagnet

Beschreibt Pflanzen, die für eine Vielzahl von bestäubenden Organismen besonders attraktiv und nützlich sind.

Pflanzenfressend

Dieses Merkmal kennzeichnet Lebewesen, deren Ernährung vollständig oder hauptsächlich aus pflanzlichem Material besteht.

Wald

Waldlebensräume sind terrestrische Lebensräume, die von dichtem Baumbestand dominiert werden und eine große Vielfalt an Pflanzen- und Tierarten beherbergen.