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Project Noah Nature School
Galls about 30 mm long some young and soft and others hard and woody were spotted on Goodenia ovata. The hard gall in pic # 5 had an eccentric opening on one end but contained nothing inside. Another gall (pic #1) with no orifice had a slightly "L-shaped" cavity with a wasp (top right half & pic #2) and lower down in the cavity was a solid pupa (pic#3). It is interesting to note that the gall wall at the upper end of the cavity was thin presumably to aid the "escape" of the adult insect.
Spotted on Goodenia ovata growing wild in this national park. G.ovata can be seen in this spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/850...
Many of the Goodenia plants appeared to have these galls and the stem above the galls were dead or dying. The wasp might be a parasitoid and as there was no sign of entry, the wasp eggs might have been laid when the gall was young and soft and the winged adult would have developed inside the gall. I have no ID for this wasp or for the architect of the gall, this stage -the wasp is possibly a brachonid. http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Braconid... and the gall architect, possibly a midge (Dipteran) from the Tephritidae family which is known to cause stem galls in Goodeniaceae.
Spotted on Sep 11, 2013
Submitted on Sep 11, 2013
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