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Tanyscelis maculata
These are scale insect galls seen on the upper (adaxial) side of the leaf . The broad-based conical outgrowths are female galls. There were two of these, one at the base of the leaf base and another along the main vein. the gall was purplish and had a ring near the base. One fo the galls showed two openings and the other a single smooth circular orifice. Also on the leaf surface were many upright tubular structures with apical openings with crenulated margins. These were male galls and they were tinged red.
Spotted on a eucalyptus tree - ? species. Nature reserve.
These galls are made by hemipterans fo the Eriococcidae family of sap-sucking scale insects. My thanks to Dr L.Cook for confirming genus and identifying the species.
Spotted on Feb 27, 2015
Submitted on Mar 1, 2015
5 Comments
Wow ! so pleased with myself !! Thank you so much Dr Cook for your input.
ID to genus is correct - probably Tanyscelis maculata.
Maria, I knew what galls were but not much more about them or about their architects before I joined PN. I agree that they are interesting and projects like PN make you look a lot closer and learn a lot more. I can't find much information on them except in research papers and even that seems to be limited to eucalyptus galls. We've had an expert ( Dr.L. Cook) on gum galls look in every now and then and she has corrected some of our mistakes - I hope this one is right !
interesting indeed!
That is very interesting, Leuba! Before joining Noah, I didn't know what galls were. I learned about them but still didn't know there were male and female ones. Thanks!