Needle-Gall Midge

Pinyonia edulicola

This midge induces spindle-shaped galls at the base of needles of Colorado pinyon pine form Colorado westward and singleleaf pinyon pine in the New York Mountains of the eastern Mojave Desert, California. Galls are often light green, or sometimes rose red.

Range: New York Mountains, eastern Mojave Desert

Hosts: Pinus monophylla, Pinus edulis

...The needles expand into a spindleform enlargement around a chamber housing 5-40 larvae...Host: P. edulis...