For these pictures you need to use some lateral thinking and have a reasonable general knowledge of entomology – the formal keys are often not much use here! What follows below is an entomological stream of consciousness (eat your heart … Continue reading
You may have seen all sorts of reports about citizen science and the ability of panels of naturalists to be able to identify insects from photos sent to them. Below are two photos of insects in the Harris Garden taken … Continue reading
Before getting back to galls that can be seen around the Whiteknights campus, I ought to mention that at the end of last year another gall book appeared, making three in one year! This one, Britain’s Plant Galls, a photographic … Continue reading
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We have no native members of the Moraceae in the UK, but a couple of species have been planted fairly widely, one the fig (Ficus carica), and the other the black mulberry, Morus nigra. The black mulberry has a murky … Continue reading
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I cannot believe that it has been over a month since I posted anything on campus galls here. It has not been entirely due to slacking, rather in the past month I have been gathering gall data and images from campus … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
The galls I have described from campus so far are all recognisably gall like, but not all are. I’m having quite a bit of trouble at the moment trying to distinguish some types of gall, which involve leaf rolling and … Continue reading
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Whilst looking for galls on oaks last month I was lucky enough to come across this scene, some insects hatching out. Quite simple, but there is actually a lot going on here. First, what species is this? Looking at the … Continue reading
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Continuing our look at galls caused by mites, Figs 1 and 2 illustrate two nail or bugle galls caused by eriophyoid mites on common lime, Tilia x europaea, on campus. These galls are much larger than those caused by mites … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Many mites produce galls on plants. Most gall mites occur in the superfamily Eriophyoidea; these mites don’t resemble the globular spider mites or predatory mites that you may be familiar with; rather they are cone or worm shaped with only … Continue reading
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One of the most recognisable galls (on oak, at least) is the knopper gall, caused by the cynipid gall wasp Andricus quercuscalicis, and these galls have started to appear on campus (Figs 1-3) on acorns of Quercus robur. Similar to … Continue reading
