Gnorimoschema gallaesolidaginis

Gnorimoschema jocelynae

Gnorimoschema salinaris

Gnorimoschema septentrionella

Gnorimoschema gallaespeciosum

Gnorimoschema gibsoniella

Gnorimoschema slabaughi

Gnorimoschema gallaeasterella

Gnorimoschema busckiella

Gnorimoschema subterranea

Gnorimoschema gallaediplopappi

"The bung is honey-colored at first, but whitens with exposure to weathering....The outer surface of the finished bung is flush with [a ring of raised plant tissue]."

"Light bung coloration is a galler rather than a foodplant trait, as shown by..."

"Ramets with light-bunged galls from Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio were identified as *S. canadensis* and *S. altissima*. The galler exhibits high fidelity to this foodplant complex as shown by..."

[goes on to emphasize the rarity of occurrences of light-bunged (therefore, made by this particular *Gnorimoschema* species) galls on *S. gigantea*, *S. ulmifolia*, "*S. juncea-missouriensis* complex" [almost certainly *S. juncea* at this eastern site]]

[Miller mentions that "*S. nemoralis*" was given as the host by Riley in 1869, but emphasizes that he has personally never found *Gnorimoschema* galls on this host species, despite searching, and also casts doubt on the identity of the gall-former responsible for galls Riley reported from *S. missouriensis* from Washington and British Columbia.]

"This species differs most strikingly from *G. gallaesolidaginum* [*G. gallaesolidaginis*] in that its bung is blackish brown, recessed, and not beveled."

"Ramets from Michigan and Maryland bearing galls plugged with dark, recessed bungs were identified as *Solidago gigantea*, a fairly distinctive goldenrod..."

[Later describes very rare occurrences (<<1%) of dark-bunged galls on other hosts, one on a host in the *Solidago canadensis-altissima* species complex, and two on *Solidago ulmifolia*. Because they were so rare, they are not listed as hosts based on this source for the purposes of gallformers.org.]

"The mature gall is more variable in shape than those of *G. gallaesolidaginum [G. gallaesolidaginis]* and *G. jocelynae*, ranging from vertically symmetrical to pear-shaped..."

"*Solidago sempervirens* is a long-known foodplant... In the present study, foodplant ramets from sites in Ohio and Maryland bearing galls plugged with dark bungs flush with the gall exterior were identified as *S. juncea* ... I sometimes found *G. salinarum* galls on *S. ulmifolia* in Maryland, but only at a few sites where galls were abundant on *S. juncea*."

"Mature galls range from vertically symmetrical to pear-shaped, with irregularities in shape being more pronounced than in [*G. gallaesolidaginis, G. jocelynae, G. salinaris*]."

"The opening of the adult exit to the outside is located in the upper one-third of the gall, sometimes in the narrow part of pear-shaped galls... [This species] does not make a bung; only intact plant epidermis caps the finished adult exit. This cap is usually less visible externally than those the other other gallers fusing caps of intact plant tissue, and thus may be thicker. The cap has a single layer of silk on its inner side ... Exit caps are translucent when the exit sides of bisected galls are held up to a lamp. The pointed adult frons is probably adapted for penetrating a thick exit cap."

"...reared adults and galls of [this species] came from *Aster novae-angliae*, *A. pilosus*, *A. simplex*, and *A. praealtus.* The foodplant reported by Fyles (1911b), *Aster junceus* Ait., is now referable to *A. junciformis* Rydb." [in 2022, POWO lists this as a synonym for *Symphyotrichum boreale*".]

"...the opening of the adult exit is located in the middle one-third of the gall slightly above midgall." [rather than the upper third]
"No bung is made; only intact plant epidermis caps the finished exit. Caps are translucent when the exit sides of bisected galls are held up to a lamp."
"Discounting minor irregularities, the galls are vertically symmetrical."


"Reared adults for this study came from *Aster* spp., including the taxonomically variable *Aster pilosus*, which has several named varieties. Godfrey et al. (1987) reared *G. gibsoniellum* from *Aster* spp. Busck (1915) gives the foodplant as *"Solidago rigida."* *S. rigida* L. is a distinctive goldenrod which I scanned extensively in Minnesota and southwestern Manitoba without finding *Gnorimoschema* galls." [note: Despite this statement by Miller, it's hard for me to imagine Busck truly mistaking *Solidago rigida* for an aster, so I'm still including it in our gallformers.org database as a host. It is still possible that it was misidentified, however.]

"Discounting minor irregularities, the galls are vertically symmetrical to mildly pear-shaped. The pear-shaped galls occurred at ground level."

"I first detected this galler while mowing a rural lawn that was being invaded by *Aster pilosus* from an adjacent field. Most of the galls were at ground level, becoming apparent only after mowing exposed them.... Gibson also noted that the galls were near ground level."

"The opening of the adult exit is located in the upper one-third of the gall."

"No bung is made; only intact plant epidermis caps the finished adult exit, as in *G. gallaespeciosum*."

"Adults were reared from *Grindelia squarrosa* (Pursh) Dun., and *Haplopappus ciliatus* (Nutt.) DC. [note: as of 2022 POWO lists this as a synonym for *Grindelia ciliata*]

"The opening of the adult exit to the outside is located in the upper one-third of the gall...the larva covers the opening with a cap consisting of plant tissue fragments interwoven with silk. The cap, which is pliable when touched with an insect pin, is conspicuous at completion, but dries and weathers so that it later blends more the the gall exterior."

"...galls usually occur singly on *Grindelia squarrosa* main stems, sometimes also on larger lateral branches..."

"mature gall vertically symmetrical"

"Reared adults are reported most often from *Solidago flexicaulis* L., less often from *S. caesia* L., *S. uliginosa* Nutt., and *Aster divaricatus* L...The one adult reared in this study came from *Aster sagittifolius* Wedemeyer in lower Michigan."

"...galls are vertically symmetrical at maturity....and may disrupt ramet development such that no more than a single pair of leaves develops above galls."

"The opening of the adult exit to the outside is located in the upper one-third of the gall."

"...finished exits were capped by intact plant epidermis."

"G. busckiellum Kearfott ... galls lateral branches of Aster patens Ait., and is still known only from the type series reared in New Jersey. In the gall induced by this moth, the finished adult exit is covered only by intact plant epidermis."

"...occurs on both the East and West coasts, but has not been reported anywhere in between. In the East, it is known only from the type series reared in Massachusetts from main-stem galls on *Aster ericoides* L. at or near ground level. The finished adult exit of this galler is covered by intact plant epidermis. In the West, *G. subterraneum* galls occur on *A. chilensis* Nees, varying in height from ground level upward."

Whether *G. gallaediplopappum* Fyles (1890) is conspecific with *G. gallaeasterellum* has long been debated (Busck 1903b, 1939; Fyles 1911a; McDunnough 1959). *G gallaediplopappum* gall biology, which might help resolve this issue, is thus far unknown. Until adequate information becomes available, apparent differences in forewing scale pattern, female genital structure,
foodplants, and larval behavior seem to warrant the separation of these taxa, and the restriction of *G. gallaeasterellum* as in the above nomenclatural review (Fyles 1911 a, McDunnough 1959).
...
The unresolved *G. gallaediplopappum* Fyles can be tentatively included here. As discussed earlier, it has been reported from Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Maine galling stems of *Aster umbellatus* Mill. and *Solidago rugosa* Ait. (Fyles 1890, 1911a; Procter 1946; McDunnough 1959).

A Comparative Taxonomic-Natural History Study of Eight Nearctic Species of Gnorimoschema that Induce Stem Galls on Asteraceae, Including Descriptions of Three New Species (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)