
	Description
	Larger empty oak apple wasp is an early season oak gall wasp. It occurs in the United States east of the Great Plains and in Ontario, Canada. It is usually identified by the gall it produces. The gall appears on a growing leaf of northern red oak in May. As the gall expands it may take over the entire leaf and falsely look like it is growing on the twig or leaf stalk (petiole). The fully developed gall is round, 1″ to 1½″ in diameter, bright green, glossy, and moderately to heavily covered with small red spots. Each spot covers a low, rounded bump (nipple). The outer walls of the gall are thin. The larval cell in the center of the gall is small. It is supported by filaments radiating in all directions from the cell to the gall walls. The adult emerges in June. Late in the season the gall turns light brown.

	Size
	Gall: 1″ to 1½″ in diameter

	Similar Species
	Spongy oak apple gall wasp (Amphibolips confluenta) galls are not spotted. Oak gall wasp (Amphibolips cookii) galls are smaller, no more than 1″ in diameter. They protrude from a leaf bud, not a developing leaf.


	Habitat



	Biology
	Season
	June and July

	Behavior


	Life Cycle


	Larva Hosts
	Northern red oak

	Adult Food


	Taxonomy
	Order	Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)
	Suborder	Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)
	Infraorder	Proctotrupomorpha
	Superfamily	Cynipoidea (gall wasps)
	Family	Cynipidae (gall wasps)
	Subfamily	Cynipinae
	Tribe	Cynipini (oak gall wasps)
	Genus	Amphibolips

	Synonyms
	Amphibolips inanis

	Common Names
	larger empty oak apple wasp

Glossary

Gall

An abnormal growth on a plant produced in response to an insect larva, mite, bacteria, or fungus.


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	SaraBug

	Never seen one of these before. Thought it was alien fruit! Haha! :)



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SaraBug 8/13/2017	Location: Scott County, MN Never seen one of these before. Thought it was alien fruit! Haha! :)



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Created: 1/16/2020

Last Updated:

larger empty oak apple wasp