Andricus dimorphus | |
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Andricus dimorphus galls on bur oak | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Cynipidae |
Genus: | Andricus |
Species: | A. dimorphus
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Binomial name | |
Andricus dimorphus (Beutenmuller, 1913)
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Synonyms | |
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Andricus dimorphus, also called the clustered midrib gall wasp, is a species of oak gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. Galls in which the larvae live and feed are formed in clusters along the midrib on the underside of oak leaves.[1]
This species has been found throughout central and eastern North America where its host species occur.[1][2][3]
Confirmed hosts of the clustered midrib gall wasp are white oak species, including Quercus macrocarpa, Q. alba, Q. prinoides, and Q. bicolor.[1][2] Clusters of up to 50 globular (but with a pointed base), red-brown galls are formed along the midrib on the underside of leaves beginning in late summer.[1][2][3] The galls readily detach from the leaf, particularly when mature.[1][2][3] Adults emerge from the galls the following year.[2][3] Inquilines and parasitoids may inhabit the galls.[4]
This species was first described by William Beutenmuller in 1913 with the name Cynips dimorphus.[2] According to Clarence Gillette, William Ashmead had already used this name by 1889 for a species that produces galls similar to those of Beutenmuller's Cynips dimorphus.[5] This species was later transferred to the genus Adleria which itself was subsequently included within Andricus.[6]