Stats

Lifespan

About 1 yr

Size

Tiny

Diet

Herbivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate oak woodland

Range

Western North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Armor

Status

Uncommon

About

A tiny cynipid wasp whose larva tricks valley and blue oaks into growing a baseball-sized woody gall around it, providing food and shelter until it emerges as an adult. These oak apple galls were once collected and boiled down to make iron gall ink.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Cynipidae

Genus

Andricus

Species

Andricus quercuscalifornicus