
	Description
	Amphibolips cookii is an oak gall wasp. It occurs in the eastern United States from Maine to Minnesota south to Virginia and Iowa. It is usually identified by the gall it produces. The gall appears protruding from a leaf bud of a northern red oak or black oak. The fully developed gall is round, 7 ⁄16″ to 1″ (11 to 25 mm) in diameter, green, and moderately covered with small red spots. Each spot covers a low, rounded bump (nipple). The outer walls of the gall are moderately thick. 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 gall turns brown and wrinkles when it dries. It drops off the tree in September to October.

	Size
	Gall: 7 ⁄16″ to 1″ (11 to 25 mm) in diameter

	Similar Species



	Habitat



	Biology
	Season


	Behavior


	Life Cycle


	Larva Hosts
	Northern red oak, black 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


	Common Names
	This species has no common name. The common name for the tribe Cynipini is oak gall wasps, and it is applied here for convenience.

Glossary

Gall

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


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	Pat





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Pat 8/22/2017	Location: Taconic State Park, upstate New York



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Created: 1/16/2020

Last Updated:

oak gall wasp