She-oak Gall - Cylindrococcus spiniferus
Family Eriococcidae
This page contains pictures and information about She-oak Galls that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
-
- Female Gall length 15mm
- We easily found this gall on She-oak tree. There could be one or two galls on every stems. We used to think they are the flowers or fruits of the plants. Checking the reference books and found that they are gall induced by insects. Opened the gall and found a little fellow inside.
- Matured gall
- The scale insects in this family Eriococcidae induce distinctive woody gall on plants. The insect lives inside the gall from 1st instars to adult. Female adult stays inside the gall while winged male leaves its gall and look for the females.
- Young gall
- This species of insects cause galls on Casuarinas or She-oaks. Those galls in photos on this page are all female. Male galls are slender and longer.
- Open the gall and find the little fellow inside.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, Fig30.25E.
- 2. A Revision of the Gall-Forming Coccoid Genus Cylindrococcus Maskell (Homoptera: Eriococcidae) - PJ Gullan, Australian Journal of Zoology 32(5) 677 - 690, 1984.
- 3. Genus Cylindrococcus Maskell, 1892 - Australian Biological Resources Study, Australian Faunal Directory.
- 4. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, Plate 14_7.5
- 5. MALE INSECTS AND GALLS OF THE GENUS CYLINDROCOCCUS MASKELL (HOMOPTERA: COCCOIDEA) - P. J. GULLAN, J. Aust. ent. Soc.. 1978, 17: 53-61.
