Gall Makers

47 species with this diet

Thysanoptera

Acacia Thrips

Kladothrips waterhousei

An Australian gall-inducing thrips that creates enclosed galls on Acacia phyllodes. It exhibits a soldier caste that def...

Hymenoptera

African Acacia Ant

Pseudomyrmex sp. (African mimic: Tetraponera penzigi)

A slender ant inhabiting the swollen galls of whistling thorn acacias in East Africa. Multiple ant species compete for o...

Embioptera

Antipaluria Web Spinner

Antipaluria urichi

A large tropical web spinner from Trinidad and northern South America. It builds conspicuous silk galleries on the trunk...

Embioptera

Aposthonia Web Spinner

Aposthonia ceylonica

A web spinner from Sri Lanka and southern India found under bark and stones. It lives in communal silk galleries with mu...

Coleoptera

Ash Bark Weevil

Magdalis armigera

A small black weevil that breeds under the bark of ash trees. Larvae create winding galleries in the cambium. Has become...

Thysanoptera

Australian Gall Thrips

Kladothrips intermedius

A eusocial thrips from Australia that induces galls on Acacia trees and defends them with a soldier caste. They are amon...

Coleoptera

Bronze Birch Borer

Agrilus anxius

A native North American jewel beetle that is the most serious pest of birch trees. Larvae create winding galleries benea...

Embioptera

Common Web Spinner

Embia major

A dark brown web spinner that constructs silk galleries on tree bark and under stones. Males are winged while females ar...

Hemiptera

Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgid

Adelges cooleyi

A gall-forming adelgid that alternates between spruce and Douglas-fir. Cone-shaped galls on spruce tips are its most rec...

Hymenoptera

Disc-Headed Turtle Ant

Cephalotes varians

A small arboreal turtle ant in which soldiers have perfectly circular, flat heads that serve as living nest entrance plu...

Hymenoptera

Doorkeeper Ant

Colobopsis truncata

A European carpenter ant in which soldiers have uniquely flattened, plug-shaped heads used to block nest entrances in pl...

Coleoptera

European Spruce Bark Beetle

Ips typographus

A major pest of spruce forests across Europe and Asia. Adults bore through bark to create characteristic gallery pattern...

Thysanoptera

Fighting Soldier Thrips

Oncothrips tepperi

A eusocial Australian thrips that forms colonies inside galls on Acacia trees with distinct reproductive and soldier cas...

Hymenoptera

Gall Wasp

Andricus quercuscalicis

A tiny wasp that induces knopper galls on oak acorns, deforming them completely....

Thysanoptera

Gall-forming Thrips

Klambothrips myopori

A tiny Australian thrips that induces galls on Myoporum plants. It was introduced to California as a biocontrol agent....

Blattodea

Grallatotermes Bark Termite

Grallatotermes africanus

An African arboreal termite that builds thin sheeting galleries over tree bark surfaces. Workers forage beneath these pr...

Coleoptera

Great Capricorn Beetle

Cerambyx cerdo

One of Europe's largest longhorn beetles, with antennae longer than its body. Larvae bore deep galleries into living oak...

Diptera

Hessian Fly

Mayetiola destructor

A tiny dark gall midge that is one of the most destructive pests of wheat and barley worldwide. Adults resemble small da...

Blattodea

Iberian Subterranean Termite

Reticulitermes grassei

A subterranean termite found in the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France. Colonies build underground galleries in s...

Blattodea

Intermedius Schedorhinotermes

Schedorhinotermes intermedius

One of Australia's most common structural pest termites, known for its dimorphic soldier caste. Colonies nest in tree st...

Coleoptera

Knapweed Gall Weevil

Bangasternus fausti

A weevil that induces galls in knapweed flower heads. Larvae develop inside the enlarged flower buds. Used in biological...

Coleoptera

Mango Stem Borer

Batocera rubus

A large greyish-brown longhorn beetle that is a major pest of mango trees in South and Southeast Asia. Adults have robus...

Lepidoptera

Marsh Fritillary

Euphydryas aurinia

A colourful butterfly with a complex mosaic of orange, cream, and brown markings across its wings. It is the most rapidl...

Coleoptera

Narrow-necked Ant Beetle

Dinarda dentata

A flattened, reddish-brown aleocharine rove beetle that inhabits Formica ant nests as a tolerated guest. Its flattened b...

Embioptera

Notoligotoma Web Spinner

Notoligotoma hardyi

An Australian web spinner found in tropical northern Australia. It builds silk galleries on tree trunks during the wet s...

Hymenoptera

Oak Apple Gall Wasp

Biorhiza pallida

A gall wasp that creates large spongy apple-like galls on oak twigs. It has an alternating sexual and asexual generation...

Hymenoptera

Oak Marble Gall Wasp

Andricus kollari

A tiny wasp that induces marble-shaped galls on oak twigs where its larvae develop. The galls were historically used to ...

Diptera

Orange Wheat Blossom Midge

Sitodiplosis mosellana

A small orange-colored gall midge that lays eggs in wheat flowers. Its bright orange larvae feed on developing wheat gra...

Hymenoptera

Oregon Oak Gall Wasp

Besbicus mirabilis

A gall wasp that induces conspicuous galls on Oregon white oak in western North America. Galls form on leaf veins and ca...

Coleoptera

Plantain Gall Weevil

Mecinus pyraster

A small cylindrical weevil that causes stem galls on plantain. Larvae develop inside swollen plant stems. An inconspicuo...

Hymenoptera

Polar Willow Gall Sawfly

Euura arcticum

A tiny sawfly that induces galls on Arctic willow stems by injecting chemicals during egg-laying. The larva develops saf...

Hymenoptera

Robin's Pincushion Gall Wasp

Diplolepis rosae

A gall wasp that forms spectacular mossy red-green growths on wild roses. Each gall may contain up to 60 larval chambers...

Diptera

Rose Midge

Dasineura rhodophaga

A tiny gall midge whose larvae develop inside rose buds, causing them to blacken and fail to open. Adults are delicate y...

Hymenoptera

Rose-stem Gall Wasp

Diplolepis spinosa

A gall wasp that creates spiny galls on the stems of wild roses in North America. Each gall contains a single larval cel...

Diptera

Rosette Gall Midge

Dasineura urticae

A tiny midge that causes distinctive rosette galls on the tips of stinging nettles. The growing tip is stunted and swoll...

Coleoptera

Small Poplar Borer

Saperda populnea

A smaller relative of S. carcharias with yellowish-green pubescence and a row of spots along the elytral suture. It atta...

Blattodea

South American Tree Termite

Nasutitermes similis

A common Neotropical nasute termite building carton nests on trees throughout South American forests. Colonies are moder...

Lepidoptera

Splendid Ghost Moth

Aenetus ligniveren

A large, primitive moth with bright green and white patterned wings. Its larvae bore into tree trunks and live inside ga...

Hemiptera

Spruce Gall Adelgid

Adelges abietis

A tiny woolly aphid-like insect that induces distinctive pineapple-shaped galls on Norway spruce twigs. The galls form w...

Hemiptera

Sumac Gall Aphid

Melaphis rhois

A gall-forming aphid that produces large hollow galls on sumac trees in which colonies live and reproduce. Soldier nymph...

Diptera

Swede Midge

Contarinia nasturtii

A minute yellowish-brown gall midge that attacks brassica crops by distorting growing points. Its tiny larvae feed insid...

Lepidoptera

Tapestry Moth

Trichophaga tapetzella

A distinctive clothes moth with whitish forewings and a dark brownish-black base. It creates extensive silk galleries th...

Hymenoptera

Thistle Gall Wasp

Isocolus scabiosae

A minute gall-inducing wasp that forms swellings on knapweed flower heads. It has been studied as a potential biocontrol...

Blattodea

Tropical Rough-headed Termite

Heterotermes tenuis

A Neotropical subterranean termite and significant sugarcane pest in Brazil. Colonies are diffuse with interconnected su...

Trichoptera

Tube-Making Caddis

Psychomyia flavida

A small caddisfly whose larvae build silken tubes cemented to rock surfaces in rivers. The tubes create a network of gal...

Hymenoptera

Valentine Ant

Crematogaster cerasi

A North American acrobat ant common in deciduous forests and suburban yards. They typically nest in dead branches and ol...

Hemiptera

Woolly Apple Aphid

Eriosoma lanigerum

An aphid covered in waxy white filaments that forms colonies on apple tree bark and roots. Heavy infestations cause gall...