Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896, sexual generation [See ID Notes!]

Synonyms: Bassettia archboldi Melika & Abrahamson, 2007, syn. nov. This species was initially described based only on males, without knowledge of the females or the galls they induce; a male was obtained in a Malaise trap in November in Florida, at the Archbold Biological Station (Melika & Abrahamson 2007).

Material examined: Two females and one male “Skinners nursery, Crescent City., FL, gall coll. 04/03/24. Tree 20C, Bassettia gall.”. Four males “USA, FL, Highlands Co., Lake Placid, Archbold Bio Sta, 1995.10.11. MT. leg. G. Melika”

Gall. Sexual galls remain to be confirmed but may well be found within hypertrophied buds that occur in clusters on stems, with bud scales open, although with no obvious cavity observed within the bud (Fig. 113).

Biology. Bassettia pallida, previously known only from asexual females, is now also known from its sexual generation. The asexual galls develop under the bark of twigs on Q. virginiana and Q. geminata. Galls mature in late September-October; adults emerge in November. Both sexual females and males were reared from galls within the same twig with enlarged and distorted buds on it, collected at the Archbold Biological Station (Florida) from Q. geminata in October. See Weinersmith et al. (2020) for the community ecology and natural enemy assemblage associated with galls.

Distribution. USA: Florida, Georgia, Missouri (Burks 1979).