Common spangle gall wasp

Neuroterus quercusbaccarum

The common spangle gall on the underside of leaves and the currant gall on the male catkins or occasionally the leaves, develop as chemically induced distortions on pedunculate oak, or sessile oak trees, caused by the cynipid wasp ''Neuroterus quercusbaccarum'' which has both agamic and bisexual generations.
Common spangle gall - closeup, Uden, Netherlands A few weeks ago, Henriette and I did a short hike in a local forest and were shocked by what this year's summer had done to it. We've faced the hottest and most dry summer in 3 centuries. The forest was completely dried out, and we felt like aliens in our otherwise so cool, wet and moderate country. The whole place looked like a single spark of fire would destroy it entirely. Not really finding anything to photogragh for a while, my otherwise awful memory reminded me to check something. I had been inspired by Christine Young's work on describing gall wasps. Before that, I really didn't know they were a thing. I simply walked past them for years without any awareness of their existence, in full ignorance. My rare moment of clarity triggered a lazy attempt (it really was hot) to check some leaves, so here you go, my first ever gall wasp observation. A new hidden layer of life discovered, thank you @Christine. Closeup: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/66616/common_spangle_gall_uden_netherlands.html Common spangle gall,Europe,Netherlands,Neuroterus quercusbaccarum,Uden,World

Naming

Previous names or synonyms for this species are ''Neuroterus baccarum'', ''N. lenticularis'', ''N. malpighii'', ''Cynips lenticularis'', ''C. quercus-baccarum'', ''Spathegaster baccarum, S. varius'', ''S. interruptor''.
Common spangle gall, Uden, Netherlands A few weeks ago, Henriette and I did a short hike in a local forest and were shocked by what this year's summer had done to it. We've faced the hottest and most dry summer in 3 centuries. The forest was completely dried out, and we felt like aliens in our otherwise so cool, wet and moderate country. The whole place looked like a single spark of fire would destroy it entirely. Not really finding anything to photograph for a while, my otherwise awful memory reminded me to check something. I had been inspired by Christine Young's work on describing gall wasps. Before that, I really didn't know they were a thing. I simply walked past them for years without any awareness of their existence, in full ignorance. My rare moment of clarity triggered a lazy attempt (it really was hot) to check some leaves, so here you go, my first ever gall wasp observation. A new hidden layer of life discovered, thank you @Christine. Closeup: https://www.jungledragon.com/image/66617/common_spangle_gall_-_closeup_uden_netherlands.html Europe,Netherlands,Neuroterus quercusbaccarum,Uden,World

Distribution

The distribution and numbers of spangle galls on mature oak trees differs from that on young trees; the differences could be partly due to the earlier date of leaf opening on mature trees. No spatial zonation of spangle galls was apparent on the mature trees. Galls on catkins are less parasitised than those on leaves.''N. quercusbaccarum'' is found throughout Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa.
Galls on an Oak leaf Neuroterus quercusbaccarum galls on Quercus boissieri Common spangle gall wasp,Fall,Geotagged,Israel,Neuroterus quercusbaccarum

Behavior

The male and female of the bisexual generation emerge in June from the currant galls and after mating the fertilised eggs are laid in the lower epidermis of the oak leaves. The spangle galls develop over the winter and the insects emerge in April, laying their eggs in the catkins or lower epidermis. The cycle, an alternation of generation, then begins again.
Neuroterus quercusbaccarum - Lentiform galls on Oak Lentiform galls on an Oak leaf caused by the agamic generation of the gall wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum Common spangle gall,Cynipidae,Gall,Neuroterus,Neuroterus quercusbaccarum,Oak,Quercus robur,gall wasp

Predators

Spangles lying on the ground are often eaten by gamebirds and both of these galls are prone to being colonised by a variety of other organisms. ''Synergus'' spp. are inquilines which attack small galls, and the primary parasitoid ''Mesopolobus tibialis'' attacks medium size galls and ''Torymus auratus'' attacks large galls. The two parasitoids affect the final mature size of the spangle galls, highlighting the galling insects chemical influence upon the host plant.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderHymenoptera
FamilyCynipidae
GenusNeuroterus
SpeciesN. quercusbaccarum
Photographed in
Israel
Netherlands