A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Small and rather common gall forming flies laid eggs in leaf bud. See the series of galls and pupae.
Gall in leaf buds of Eucalyptus sapling
Eggs laid in young bud enlarge as the buds grow. Thy are known to have an association with nematodes (roundworms). Cross section disection shows part of the life cycle. The gall as pictured was contained and flies emerged from their pupae after about seven days (pics 5 - 6). They were frozen for the purpose of taking this photograph.
Spotted on Oct 13, 2011
Submitted on Dec 13, 2011
10 Comments
I'll track mine as they develop then. Thanks martin.
With many chambers I think they are similar. I think yours is similar too http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/139...
So this might be related to Leubas spotting in February http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/934...
Thank you John. This does seem to be correct for the ID. I've found another link here http://tolweb.org/Fergusonina/10635
My guess is that these are Fergusonina flies. These are gall inducing flies - which have a really neat symbiotic relationship with nematodes. There has been some recent work on the subject - I don't know the literature that well, but this will give you some basic biology and references
Goolsby, J.A.; Burwell, C.J.; Makinson, J.; Driver, F. 2001, Investigation of the biology of the hymenoptera associated with Fergusonina sp. (Diptera: Furgusoninidae) a gall fly of Melaleuca quinquenervia integrating molecular techniques. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 10(2):163-180
Thanks Leanne, you can hopefully complete your series too. I would love to know if they're flies (2 wings) or wasps (4 wings). I reloaded the last image that does work now.
I love this series Martin...it's got everything! :)
Here is a similar insect gall
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/120...
This young tree had many leaf tip galls. They are infested when very young and grow as the leaf grows. I hatched the flies out and put them on flickr. I've got the pics hidden in a folder somewhere and will add them if I find it again.
Those sections are fascinating.