Why are these white stopper (Eugenia axillaris) fruits yellow and ribbed? It's likely the handiwork of a gall midge. Not too much is known this tiny insect, long co-evolved with white stopper, that does not have a common name. Its…
Category: Galls
Great Garden Gall
Fran Robinson (Class of 2018) sent this photo of a gall on her white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica) plant. This gall likely is the handiwork of a gall midge (Neolasioptera verbesinae). Its species name, verbesinae, speaks to its fidelity to the genus Verbesina.…
Great Bay Galls
The red bay psylid (Trioza magnolia) is responsible for galls on the edges of the leaves of red bay (Persea borbonia) and swamp bay (Persea palustris). The galls are so ubiquitous and distinctive that they are sometimes used as a…
Galled Myrcianthes
The leaves of a very few of the simpsons stoppers that we saw on our walk at the Captain Forester Preserve were curiously pock marked -- likely the work of a gall midge that remains unnamed but was reported as…
