Callirhytis piperoides (agamic)

Callirhytis perditor (agamic)

Neuroterus consimilis (agamic)

Callirhytis exigua (sexgen)

Neuroterus perminimus (sexgen)

Andricus incertus (agamic)

Neuroterus gillettei (sexgen)

Neuroterus quercusverrucarum (agamic)

Acraspis gemula (sexgen)

Neuroterus umbilicatus (agamic)

Philonix fulvicollis (agamic)

Neuroterus exiguus (sexgen)

Zapatella ceropteroides (agamic)

Neuroterus dubius (sexgen)

Acraspis longicornis (sexgen)

Amphibolips gainesi (agamic)

Callirhytis tuberosa (sexgen)

Feron crystallinum (agamic)

Feron kingi (agamic)

Feron parmula (agamic)

Amphibolips quercusspongifica (sexgen)

Andricus quercusutriculus (sexgen)

Callirhytis patiens (agamic)

Callirhytis parvula

Andricus pulchellus

Diastrophus niger

Andricus piperoides, n. sp.

Galls from one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch in diameter, in dense clusters along the mid-vein of full grown red oak leaves (Quercus rubra). They are found only on the largest leaves of the thriftiest shoots of young oaks. The clusters contain from one or two dozen galls up to a hundred or more, and extend along the vein two, three or even four inches. The vein is considerably enlarged, and is often split by the crowding of the galls as they increase in size. The blade of the leaf is often torn by the same force and the galls appear on both surfaces. When on the tree they are covered with a dense, coarse pubescence which is, in color, a dusky drab, or when exposed to the sun a brownish red. They are round except a very slight elongation at the point of attachment to the leaf. After falling to the ground they soon turn black, and after losing their pubescence they resemble quite closely small black pepper corns. At this time they are a solid mass of vegetable cells with a minute jelly-like center, which is the undeveloped larva. The growing larva devours the gall till at maturity nothing remains but a thin shell. 

My galls were collected in October and were kept until late the next Summer under conditions as nearly normal as possible. As the flies seemed mature in August I placed the galls in dry boxes, expecting the insects would soon appear.

During October and November I removed from the galls some two hundred insects. They were somewhat torpid but seemingly mature. These were alive in January of the next year, and those in the galls had undergone no change. A few individuals emerged from the galls in the Winter, though most remained alive in the galls many months after. 

Andricus perditor, n. sp.

The acorns of Q. ilicifolia are, as is well known, two years in reaching maturity. In the Spring of the second year they are still very small, hardly as large as a coriander seed. At this time ants are often seen hurrying about among the young acorns and feeding upon a liquid that exudes from some of the acorns. The affected acorns are really galls--transformed acorns--that differ little in form and color from the unaffected acorns. The larva of a gall-fly lives in each of these pseud acorns. Its larval growth is complete in Spring or early Summer. I have never found them very abundant though they appear quite constantly from year to year. 

Neuroterus consimilis n. sp.

Gall.--Leafy and great foreshortened and enlarged branchlets of the white oak. Of solid, woody texture, polythalamous, one-half an inch thick (dry specimens), and three-fourths of an inch long. They mature in mid-Summer.

Locality.--CT

Andricus exiguus n. sp.

Visiting West Rock, near New Haven, Conn., several years ago in June, I found among the dry but still adherent aments of Q. obtusiloba [stellata] a number of very minute, dark colored, oval galls. The insects had escaped, but the species was new to me. Three or four years later i visited the locality in May and found galls in abundance, and the flies were very near maturity. I collected plenty of galls by breaking off small flower-covered branches. Placing these in water and keeping them under glass, a large number of very small gall-flies soon appeared. The galls were thin, short, oval larval cells, merely the modified sterile florets of the oak. Of galls affecting the sterile flowers of different kinds of oaks there are several species, but these were smaller and otherwise different from any I had seen. The effect of the sting of the fly was often to check the extension of the floral stems to a degree that reduced the florets to a close bunch or mass. This glomerate condition did not prevent the development of the gall-flies, and probably ten times as many flies appeared as there were galls in sight These galls are hardly black, but rather of a very dark slate color; they are not quite smooth. In size they measure nearly .05 of an inch in length and almost .04 in breadth. The apex is bluntly pointed. They are so very thin shelled and brittle that it is almost impossible to remove one when dry from the ament to which it is attached. After rearing several thousand flies from these galls I noticed that there were at least two species in the box. They differed little in size or general appearance as viewed with the naked eye, but the magnifying glass showed that there were two genera. I examined the galls very carefully, but found but a single species, and from this the Andricus surely came, as I found a specimen in the unopened galls. The other fly belonged to the genus Neuroterus. 

Neuroterus perminimus [males and females reared, sexgen]

This is the smallest species from which I have ever reared any gall-flies. They lie imbedded in the lamina of white oak leaves, and show on both sides, but more distinctly on the upper side. They are oval, pustule like bodies, only .04 long, .03 wide and .03 deep. I have only met them in a limited locality in Rockport, Ohio. In some cases two hundred can be counted on a single leaf of ordinary size. Small as they are, they are so infested with parasites that comparatively few true gall-flies ever reach maturity. I have reared a few of both sexes. The galls reach their growth about June 25th, and the flies hatch out before July 10th. 

Note. — I have received within a week fresh galls of this species, but the flies had nearly all escaped on their arrival, June 28, 1900. 

Andricus incertus n. sp.

No galls. One gall-fly taken ovipositing April 22, 1890, in buds of Q bicolor.

Neuroterus gillettei n. sp.

Gall. — A pustule like enlargement of the petioles and mid-veins of the leaves of Quercus obtusiloba [stellata]. Polythalamous and quite irregular in size and form. My dry specimens are much shrunken and distorted. 

Neuroterus exiguissimus n. sp.

Galls found in Autumn on the underside of leaves of Q alba, arranged along the sides of the midvein or principal veins, closely sessile but not easily separable from them, and showing an indentation in the lamina of the leaf where they grow, and a small, smooth elevation on the opposite side. They are hairy or coarsely flocculent, like the galls of N. floccosus B. The lateral diameter is about .10 of an inch ; the vertical .05. Denuded of the dense woolly covering the gall, which is the larval cell, is smooth, hemispherical (sometimes oval) and .03 in the lateral diameter. They chiefly affect the leaves at the ends of young oak branches. These leaves are generally curled and distorted, though this does not seem to result from the attacks of the gall insect. I have these galls from Providence, R. I., and Amherst, Mass., and for several years past I have found them quite abundant in Waterbury, Conn. They resemble, individually, the gall of N. floccosus B., but are smaller and are confined to the large veins of the leaf, mostly to the midvein, and they grow on Q. alba, while N. floccosus is found on Q. bicolor. All the gall-flies I have reared are females. 

Dryophanta pallipes n. sp.

Galls.--The rapid Spring growth of thrifty young white oak shoots is sometimes suddenly checked by the appearance of this gall at their apex. The gall does not prevent the developed of the leaves below it, but immediately surrounding its base half a dozen of more brown, thread-like bodies from three-fourths of an inch to an inch and a half in length appear. Occasionally two or more of these are narrowly strapped in shape, and suggest that they are all undeveloped leaves. The gall, a mere larval cell at the center of this cluster, is blackish brown, thin shelled, oblong-oval, 0.9 of an inch in length and 0.6 in diameter. The insect emerges from the apex of the cell, leaving it resembling an eggshell with the end removed. This is a rare species, though I have found it in a certain locality several years.

CT, sexgen

Neuroterus umbilicatus, n. sp.

The galls of this species are found in great numbers on the under surface of the leaves of Q. bicolor. Four or five hundred have been counted on a single leaf. They are small, circular, flattened and concave, with a minute conical elevation in the centre of the concavity. They are about .07 of an inch across and .05 in depth, and the pit is only .04 across. Beneath the conical elevation lies the minute larval cell. Except the concavity described, which is smooth, the surface is covered with short, stiff hairs, much like the under surface of the leaf. The galls are easily detached, but leave an indentation which is seen as a flattened elevation on the upper surface of the leaf. The peculiar form of these galls suggests the trivial name. 

I collected these galls in countless numbers for many years, and made numerous unsuccessful attempts to rear gall flies from them. Flies in vast numbers were bred from them, but all bore the unmistakable marks of cynipideous parasites. These repeated failures led me to wonder if there might not be, after all, species bearing all the characters of the parasites that were true gall makers. It is true that I knew of no such species, and I did not forget that proof of this negative sort and hardly less in amount led Dr. Fitch to publish a winged parasite as the originator of his Cynips ficus galls, which, later, Dr. Walsh discovered were produced by the subapterous Biorhiza forticornis. I, too, had reared millions of parasites from the galls Neuroterus floccosus B. before a single gall fly was discovered. Visiting on a warm morning in Spring an oak that had for years furnished these galls in abundance, I found a species of Neuroterus laying eggs in the buds of this tree. Busy capturing specimens from the low branches of the tree it was sometime before I discovered that my clothing was covered with flies of the same species. Having but a few minutes left for collecting, I was only able to collect some thirty individuals from the buds and my clothing. I left unwillingly, to return in the afternoon. By afternoon the weather had turned cold and not an insect of any kind could be found. 

I made visits later and on more favorable days, but no flies were seen. On one of these visits I took up a quantity of sand and leaf-mould under the tree, and sifting it carefully found many empty galls and two that contained perfect living gall-flies. One of these I destroyed in opening, the other proved to be identical with those captured a few days before, and from it the above description is, for the most part, drawn. 

In the latter part of May and the beginning of June the young galls were nearly full grown and as abundant as ever before. At this time I had in my breeding boxes, in damp earth, galls of this sort gathered the Autumn before, and from them were appearing parasites in considerable numbers. Visiting the tree at this time I found from one to five of these flies actively at work among the umbilicus galls. I cannot say that I actually saw them stinging the galls, but we may reasonably suppose they were doing so, and it is easy to understand why so few gall-flies are so produced from the almost countless number of galls of this and some other species. I have seen parasitic hymenoptera stinging, but not often. My favorite oak has recently been cut down and a railroad siding covers the stump, but I hope to find another as good on which to follow up my investigations. 

Acraspis gillettei n. sp.

Galls three-tenths of an inch in diameter. Perfectly round, slightly uneven or pimply, each pimple crowned with a tuft of hair- like pubescence. They are of a pale ash gray color, but brown or black if long exposed to the weather. The larval cell is central and is kept in place by a spongy mass that is loosely fibrous on the inner surface of the gall. The cell is oval, .15 by .18. The shell very thin and hard. The galls affect the leaves of Q. alba, and, as a rule, the tops of tall old trees. They are rarely abundant, but occasionally occur in great numbers on an isolated tree or a small grove of oaks. I took this species at first for A. niger Gill., but it differs from that species in several particulars. 

Neuroterus exiguus n. sp.

After the discovery of a species of Neuroterus in my boxes of Andricus exiguus, I made at least three trips to West Rock to discover the home of the new species, sure that the galls of the two were not identical. The study of an unlimited amount of material revealed aments that were of abnormal size, some of them two or three times the ordinary diameter, some with nodular enlargements, but all more or less hidden in the florets. After repeated efforts I finally found some of the Neuroteri in these galls and the mystery was solved. These galls are so small and succulent that they soon shrivel up and disappear. When once found it was easy to discover them in considerable numbers, but even now I fail to detect them among bunches of dry Andricus galls.

Callirhytis ceropteroides n. sp.

 Galls. — Slight enlargements of base of the annual growths of the shoots of tinctoria. These swellings are often so inconspicuous that it is very difficult to distinguish them from the unaffected branches. Occasionally one is so developed as to attract notice. They are polythalamous, though only a few insects are found in even the largest. Found in July at Crescent Beach, Branford, Conn.

Neuroterus dubia, n. sp.

This species was found in a box of galls of A. prionosus, but no galls appear from which they seem to have come. Both sexes.

Dryophanta longicornis, n. sp.

Among the galls from which Andricus exiguus n. sp. and Neuroterus exiguus n. sp. were bred were three or four of an altogether different sort. They were moderate enlargements of the upper portion of very young and tender shoots, not at all prominent; and now that these shoots are dry and shrunken I am not able to identify them among the galls in the box. I did not separate them at the time, supposing them to be too immature for developing, and I could not have done so without injuring the other species. Of course I am not sure that the three large flies found in the box came from these galls, but the presumption is that they did so. At any rate, the flies are of an undescribed species, and their relation may be determined later.

Amphibolips gainesi n. sp.

Gall perfectly round and smooth, except the point of attachment to the acorn cup on which it grows. The point is small, it projects slightly and turns to one side. The color is pale brown, the outside not different in color or density from the hard cellular matter be- neath. The larval cell is imbedded in, and is adherent to this mass. Size from one half to one inch in diameter. As my galls had wintered on the tree or lain upon the ground, the color of fresh galls may be different. Like A. prunus Walsh, this species developes on the edge of the acorn cup. It is larger than that species, which is dark and coarsely wrinkled when dry. 

This fine species was received from President M. R. Gaines, Til- lotson College, Austin, Texas. 

Andricus (Callirhytis) tuberosa n. sp.

Galls. — Woody, polythalamous, growing on Q. ilicifolia and reaching maturity in June. They are the young shoots of this oak, checked in their terminal growth, by the sting of the insect. They resemble the galls of A. scitulus B., but more closely those of A. tectus B. The largest are not more than 5/8 of an inch in length and 1/4 in diameter. They are quite rare. 

Andricus crystallinus n. sp.

I have received at different times from Mrs. E. H. King, of Napa City, Cala., a singular species of gall which grows in clusters on the leaves of Q. agrifolia? usually but not invariably on the under side. Full grown galls are from .30 in length to .13 in diameter, but only a few seem to reach maturity. Some are mere points. They are often quite dense clusters and remind one of our common A. flocci Walsh, by their woolly appearance, but the bright pinkish wool is resolved by the magnifier into a beautiful mass of brittle crystalline fibres. The largest galls terminate in an elongated neck, the lower half of which is generally smooth, while the upper part branches out tree-like. So far as I can discover these galls contain neither woody fibre nor cellulose tissue. They bear no resemblance to any ordinary vegetable growth ; but the body of the gall and the crystalline frost-work that covers it have a clear, semi-transparency, more or less pinkish, like beautifully tinted glass. The galls have a strong astringent taste, and are nearly pure tannic acid. On opening two mature galls I found two dead but fully matured gall- flies. Each gall contains two chambers, one above the other, with a very thin partition between them. The larva matures in the lower chamber.

This species differs materially from A. echinus O. S., though the galls bear a close resemblance to that species as described by Baron Osten Sacken. The black body of the insect, and the entire absence of clouds or spots in the subhyaline wings seem to separate them specifically.

Andricus kingi n. sp.

Gall. — A broad, ovate, saucer-shaped base terminating in a small, slender cone with incurved sides. The point of the cone is open down to the flattened larval cell which lies close to the base of the gall. The surface is closely pubescent and of a smoky gray color. They are about one-'fourth* of an inch long and one-fifth in diameter across the widest part of the base or rim of the saucer. The leaves to which they are attached are those of Q. alba, I think.

Gall-flies. — Two females bred from galls sent me by Mr. E. H. King, of Napa City, Cal.

Andricus parmula n. sp.

Galls. — Minute, flat, saucer shaped, with a slight elevation in the center. This central portion is the small larval cell. They are sessile on the under side of the leaves of a species of oak unknown to me. They are only .08 of an inch across the top, and are of a fine red color. They are, in habit, very much like a species found on Q. alba, but are very much smaller, and the white oak gall is a pale blue color. I am not sure that the white oak gall has yet been reared. There are several other species that somewhat resemble this one. I received these galls from Mrs. E. H. King, of Napa City, California.

Dryophanta discus n. sp.
Galls. - Among the galls sent me several years ago by Mrs E. H. King, from Napa City, Cal., were a few specimens from which no insects appeared, but from which I removed three dead but perfectly developed individuals. The galls were circular, flat sessile disks growing in clusters on the under sides of the leaves of some species of oak, closely resembling Q. alba; but I am not sure this oak grows in that section. The galls are hardly one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and except in size and color might be taken for what is, I think, called the blue spangle gall, not uncommon on the white oak in the Atlantic States. It is smaller and lacks the blue color.
The shape suggests the trivial name.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7522412


Amphibolips longicornis, n. sp.

Gall. — A large "oak-apple" with a very thin shell and a single larval cell in the middle of a soft, light and spongy mass, not unlike that of A. spongifica O. S. It is an inch and a half long and an inch and a quarter thick, My galls (only two) were received from Mr. W. R. Maxwell, of Palestine, Texas. Coming through the mail they were badly crushed and in such poor condition that I was surprised, some months later, to find in the breeding cage a fine large gall-fly. Owing to my neglect it had been somewhat injured by mites. Species of oak unknown. 

Andricus pruinosus n. sp.

Galls—0.12 to 0.15 of an inch in diameter, perfectly round and variously situated on the leaves, and occasionally on the sterile aments of Q. obtusiloba [stellata]. Outside they are densely pruinose, and the walls are very thin. There is no larval cell. In many instances the blade of the leaf, or the part affected by the gall, is reduced to a mere rudiment of irregular form and varying size, but in such cases the gall is always banded by a minute ridge answering to the leaf blade. It bears a rather close resemblance to A. utriculus B.

Collected by myself on East Rock, New Haven, Connecticut, May 7?

Andricus patiens n. sp.

Fifty or more individuals captured in early Spring in the act of ovipositing in the buds of Q. ilicifolia. They were taken when the temperature was so low that a heavy overcoat was needed to keep one comfortable, and a stiff northeast wind prevailed, and the buds showed no signs of life.

These insects must be strangely insensible to cold, or be driven by an irresistible impulse to deposit their eggs, or they would not brave such inclement weather.

Dryophanta parvula n. sp.

I found this minute species, of which I have but a single specimen, ovipositing in the buds of Q ilicifolia, May 26, 1871.

Andricus pulchellus n. sp.

Gall fly--A female found ovipositing in the buds of Quercus prinoides. 

I have had in hand for several years a few galls collected at Wood's Holl from Potentilla canadense, by Miss Cora H. Clarke. They differ greatly in form and size, but I did not think the variations were specific and placed them together in the breeding box. The smallest are round or oval, not larger than the smallest peppercorn, and contains not more than one or two larval cells; while the largest are an inch long and one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and involve the whole stem and contain a dozen or more larval cells. Were the insects identical the form of the galls would not suggest any specific difference. When the large galls include a joint of the plant the joint is enlarged with the rest, but auxillary buds are not affected. In this it differs from D. potentillae Bass., which affects buds only and whose galls are monothalamous.

New Species of North American Cynipidae (1900)