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Tag Archives: gall on dog-rose

137/366 Bedeguar gall wasp

16 Saturday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Bedeguar gall wasp, British galls, British wasps, Diplolepis rosae, gall on dog-rose, gall wasps, galls, Robin's pincushion

You might remember that, a few months ago, I posted about the (supposedly) empty galls of the Bedeguar gall wasp I’d found during a wet walk at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park (Empty pincushions, January 2020). A week or so after writing that post, I was back at Cosmeston and remembered to harvest one of the galls, which has ever since been sitting in a sealed jar on my kitchen windowsill.

200516 diplolepis rosae gall (1)
200516 diplolepis rosae gall (2)
200516 diplolepis rosae gall (3)

Although the many holes in the gall made me think that all of its inhabitants had already hatched, I decided to wait and see if anything else appeared. Two days ago I noticed movement in the jar and, taking a closer look, found two different species of wasp had emerged.

200516 diplolepis rosae (1)

This is one of them, and I’m 99% certain this is the gall causer itself, the Bedeguar gall wasp, Diplolepis rosae, the offspring of the wasp that caused the gall to form in the first place. These wasps are so tiny – just 3-4 mm long – that most of us don’t usually see them so I was very pleased to have this one emerge from its gall.

200516 diplolepis rosae (2)

There is a bit of a story attached to the second wasp that emerged, and I am currently awaiting confirmation of its identity. As soon as I know more, I’ll write it up in a further post.

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31/366 Empty pincushions

31 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Bedeguar gall wasp, British galls, Diplolepis rosae, gall on dog-rose, gall wasps, galls, Robin's pincushion

Robin’s pincushions are the amazing gall structures created on Dog roses by the larvae of Diplolepis rosae, the Bedeguar gall wasp.

200131 Robins pincushions (1)

I’ve seen the bright red galls many times during the summer months but I’ve not looked for them in the winter, so it was interesting today to find these and to see the very obvious holes where the adult wasps have hatched out. If it hadn’t been raining, I would have broken one off and brought it home for a closer look inside … maybe next week.

200131 Robins pincushions (2)

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226/365 Robin’s pincushion

14 Wednesday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bedeguar wasp gall, Diplolepis rosae, Dog-rose gall, gall on dog-rose, gall wasps, galls, Robin's pincushion

190814 robin's pincushion

Commonly known as Robin’s pincushion and found growing on Dog roses, this is a gall, the spectacular creation of a group of larvae of the Bedeguar gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae).

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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