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Cylindrococcus spiniferus
Like little artichokes with spiky scaly outgrowths, these galls were seen on the branches of a casuarina tree. There were no cones on this tree but the brown feathery tip of the "needle" seen in pic #3 along the top border might be male flowers.
casuarina tree - Allocasuarina sp.
Often mistaken for flowers, these are galls formed by the eriococcid scale insect, possibly a female. Male galls are supposedly slender and longer. The female remains in the gall while the male flies out looking for a mate.
Spotted on Oct 30, 2012
Submitted on Oct 31, 2012
7 Comments
Fantastic! It's nice to know these things really do have names in spite of the dearth of web info... and there's so many more out there.
Thanks so much I.cook for confirming this spotting and for your input. I will add and amend information as per your suggestions. Thanks again !
Beautiful. Now I'll be looking out for them.
Good ID. The host would be an Allocasuarina (Casuarinaceae). This eriococcid genus, Cylindrococcus, occurs only on Allocasuarina and not Casuarina. Both genera can be called casuarinas (with a lower case c).
Casuarinas are angiosperms. The casuarina's overall appearance is similar to a pine tree, but it is not a member of the pine family.
Well they certainly fool me.
Even though I've seen them identified, I still think they are little cones on this coniferous species
It's amazing what these creatures try to imitate. What gall !