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Robin's pincushion gall

Diplolepis rosae

Description:

I found this strange formation at the end of a branch of rose in the garden of my brother. I've never seen one like it, I thought it might be interesting .. The rose bedeguar gall, Robin's pincushion gall, or moss gall develops as a chemically induced distortion of an unopened leaf axillary or terminal buds, caused by the parthenogenetic hymenopteran gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae (Linnaeus, 1758)), previous synonyms are D. bedeguaris, Rhodites rosae or Cynips rosae. The bedeguar gall is surrounded by a dense mass of sticky branched filaments. This structure gives the appearance of a ball of moss, and its filaments are often brightly coloured, being at their best around September; starting off green and then passing through pink and crimson to reddish-brown. A large specimen can be up to 10 cm in width. The larvae develop and then over winter as pupae in the now brown and dry-looking structure, emerging in May. The unilarval chambers are set in a woody core which persists after the filaments have worn off.

Habitat:

The bedeguar is mostly common on field rose (Rosa arvensis) or dog rose (Rosa canina) shrubs, but may also develop on Rosa rubiginosa, R. dumalis, or R. rubrifolia.

Notes:

Diplolepis females lay up to 60 eggs within each leaf bud using their ovipositors. The asexual wasp emerges in spring; less than 1% are males. A similar gall is caused by Diplolepis mayri, but this is much less common.

1 Species ID Suggestions

Robin's Pin Cushion
Diplolepis rosae


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3 Comments

suzmonk
suzmonk 10 years ago

Beautiful gall ... weird how they are so often lovely.

valentinezza
valentinezza 10 years ago

Thank you Lenny for your suggestion and for the explanation: I'd never seen anything like it, I suspected it was the work of some insect, but I'd not idea who it could be. :)

LennyWorthington
LennyWorthington 10 years ago

This is a Bedeguar Gall.Made by a tiny wasp Diplolepis (Cynips) rosae.
Quite common on Rosa canina and other wild Rosa species.
Google it.You will be fascinated.But beware Plant galls can becme addictive.
Most wid plants and trees have them.As you probably already know.

valentinezza
Spotted by
valentinezza

Vigneux-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, Tromelin Island

Spotted on Aug 19, 2013
Submitted on Aug 19, 2013

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Rose bedeguar gall Moss Gall Mossyrose Gall Wasp Rose bedeguar gall

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Reference

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