I appreciate hearing from Ted MacRae regarding the origin of galls found on many plants at Bosque Santa Lucia. The attached image of galls on manioc leaves (Manihot esculenta) is one example I posted on this blog not long ago. To quote Ted, Many groups of insects (and non-insect arthropods) can cause galls - flies, wasps, and mites to name a few. That thoughtful comment tells me much more about galls than I ever knew before.Ted's blog, link above, is entitled Experiences and Reflections of a Missouri Naturalist.
2 comments:
Steven - thanks so much for highlighting my blog.
To make sure I haven't confused anyone, the tortoise-shell beetle I referred to in my comment is not itself a gall producer, it just happened to be sitting on the leaf. There are beetles that do make galls, mostly weevils and stem borers.
@ Ted, thanks for the clarifying status of the tortoise-shelled beetle. If if it's alright, I'll move that nomenclature over to the post that featured the beetle. Many thanks for your help. Cheers.
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