Callirhytis gemmaria

Quercus catesbaei [laevis], cinerea [incana], falcata, ilicifolia, imbricaria, laurifolia, myrtifolia, nigra, rubra, texana [buckleyi]
Stem galls, detachable
Fig 155. Small ribbed galls in early spring, secreting honeydew when young, dropping when mature in fall. When parasitized they do not drop but enlarge, become woody and persist over winter.

[Photo caption]
On Q cinerea [incana]. On all the red oaks. Galls secrete honeydew, drop when mature. Rearing record needed. Gates observed galls on Wayah Bald NC in 1937. Galls were on previous year's growth of every twig of every tree affected over an area of 600 acres, on red oak, none affected below 5100 feet. From 20-2000 galls on one twig. Most mature by early July. Start dropping by the middle of August. If the twig is girdled by the galls the new growth dies and turns brown and the extent of the infestation is visible from a distance because of the color. Trees were 70-75% defoliated. No galls were found in 1938 or in 1939. In 1940 there was a heavy infestation again, the area larger and the line of demarcation not so sharp. This will kill the trees and create a bald he thinks.

Cynips q gemmaria n. sp.

The gall-fly of another species affecting this oak I have just succeeded in raising this spring, after many previous ineffectual attempts. The galls appear in early spring and are soft, bristly and sticky. The immaturity of the specimens was probably the cause of my not succeeding before. The fly does not appear until the following year, February and March.

Galls.-- Numerous, small, oblong, bud-like galls, surrounding a twig or sometimes issuing from the sides of the larger branches, .10-. 12 inch in length by .05 inch in diameter.

Fly escapes by perforating a hole in the side.

Described from thirty female bred specimens.

Callirhytis quercusgemmaria (Ashmead 1885)

Hosts: Quercus inopina, myrtifolia

[Asexual generation detachable stem gall found in Florida in the spring.]