Callirhytis apicalis (Ashmead)

Andricus apicalis

This species was described from material from Quercus wislizeni A. de Candolle. The writer has taken galls on that oak in the San Gabriel Mountains, at Los Gatos, and Bagby, California. He has also found them on Quercus californica Cooper in Sequoia National Park, at Los Gatos and Dunsmuir, California, and on Quercus agrifolia Nee at Carpinteria, Santa Margarita, Paraiso Springs, Los Gatos, and St. Helena, California. The fresh galls are greenish-white, tinged with red if exposed to light, fleshy, single, or in groups of a few or in clusters that may be as much as 8 cm. in diameter and contain as many as 35 galls. The fresh galls are found in May in all stages of growth. By June 1 they are full grown. They then turn brown and the juicy interior becomes converted into brittle, cavernous tissue, with a series of thin plates radiating out from the hard basal cell. In galls taken to Evanston, Illinois, pupae were found by September 1 and also on October 10, November 17 (transformed December 6), and December 23. Living adults were cut out of this lot of galls on December 23, March 20, and April 18. Some larvae do not pupate until the second autumn, however. The normal emergence is probably in early spring, one of the type series having been reared February 17. After the insects escape, the peripheral tissues weather away in time, leaving the rough hard larval cells attached to the bark to persist for years.

Callirhytis apicalis [mistakenly listed as "Holocynips apicalis" in the list for Quercus wislizeni]

Quercus agrifolia, kelloggii, wislizeni
"Root" galls
Fig 31. Biscuit-shaped, dia 15 mm. Mono.

Fig 31. Q wislizeni, agrifolia, kelloggii. Partly grown, green, fleshy in mid-May (Los Gatos). Contain dark pupae Oct 10 and adults were cut out Dec 23, Mar 20, and Apr 16 (St Helena). Normal emergence date unknown.

Andricus apicalis, new species

Galls--Irregular, brownish black globular galls of a dense pithy substance, growing on the roots of Quercus wislizeni, sometimes three or four together, pressing each other into irregular shapes. Diameter usually about half an inch.

Three specimens, reared by Mr. Albert Koebele, from galls collected in Sacramento County, California, but the year of collecting and the date of rearing are not given. A single specimen (Xo. o714) was reared February 17. 1886. The bright red color and smoky apices of wings will readily distinguish the species.

Callirhytis apicalis
(Andricus apicalis)

Hosts: Quercus agrifolia, kelloggii, wislizeni

Polythalamous, late spring

Galls of this wasp occur at ground level on the trunk and roots of coast live oak, interior live oak, and black oak. Trunk galls are either bright yellow or brick red and measure 12-18 mm in diameter when fresh.