Cynipidae

Shachar, Einat, Melika, George, Inbar, Moshe & Dorchin, Netta, 2018, The oak gall wasps of Israel (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini) - diversity, distribution and life history, Zootaxa 4521 (4), pp. 451-498 : 457-458

Key to galls of Israeli oak Cynipidae on Quercus ithaburensis

1. Acorn or catkin galls, found in spring...................................................................... 2

- Leaf, bud, or twig galls, found in spring or fall.............................................................. 8

2. Scaly gall in young acorn, up to 12 mm long, not sticky, light green................................................................................................. Pseudoneuroterus saliens (Kollar) , sexual generation ( Fig. 57)

- Catkin gall, different from above......................................................................... 3

3. Common spherical gall, 25–30 mm in diameter, composed of thin-walled, flat subunits, light green to reddish, sometimes with velvety cover when young, light brown when mature; occupies entire catkin.................................................................................................... Andricus cecconii , sexual generation ( Figs 47–48)

- Smaller gall, tapered or ovoid, usually in clusters............................................................ 4

4. Conical, tapered galls.................................................................................. 5

- Velvety, ovoid galls.................................................................................... 6

5. Clustered galls up to 2.5 mm long each, cryptic, light brown............... Andricus coriarius , sexual generation ( Fig. 52)

- Clustered, galls up to 7 mm long each, light green and soft when young, bright red to deep purple and rigid when mature.............................................................. Andricus grossulariae , sexual generation ( Figs 49–50)

6. Cryptic, ovoid galls, 1.5–2 mm in diameter, green when young, light brown when mature, covered by white, velvety hair.................................................. Cerroneuroterus lanuginosus (Giraud) , sexual generation ( Fig. 54)

- More conspicuous galls, spherical or kidney-shaped.......................................................... 7

7. Kidney-shaped, velvey galls, up to 4 mm long, green when young, purple-green when mature, usually in panicle clusters........................................................ Andricus vindobonensis Müllner , sexual generation ( Fig. 51)

- Spherical galls, 4–7 mm in diameter, light green with velvety white hair, usually not clustered...................................................................................... Pseudoneuroterus sp. 2, sexual generation ( Fig. 53)

8. Leaf galls............................................................................................ 9

- Bud or twig galls..................................................................................... 16

9. Gall constitutes integral part of leaf...................................................................... 10

- Gall attached to one side of leaf, detachable................................................................ 12

10. Rigid gall on the main leaf vein, up to 3 mm wide, same color as leaf.................................................................................. Andricus sp. nr. quercusradicis (Fabricius) , sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 65)

- Gall not on the main leaf vein........................................................................... 11

11. Big, amorphous gall, occupying entire or most of leaf, hard and inflated on underside, soft and covered by dense hair on upper side, green with white hair when young, dark brown with golden hair when mature........................................................................................ Andricus sp. nr. istvani , sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 63)

- Smaller, spherical gall, up to 12 mm in diameter, with tapered apical extension up to 4 mm long, hard and green when young, dark brown when old............................................................................................................. Dryocosmus mikoi Melika, Tavakoli, Stone & Azizkhani , sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 64).

12. Flattened gall with central pit, very hairy, usually in clusters................................................... 13

- Spherical or elliptical gall, smooth, often in clusters......................................................... 14

13. Gall up to 7 mm in diameter, 5 mm high, completely covered by white to golden, silky, long hairs, black at center......................................................... Cerroneuroterus lanuginosus , asexual (fall) generation ( Figs 60–61)

- Gall up to 6 mm in diameter, 2 mm high, somewhat flower-shaped with irregular rims, completely covered by white to pinkish hairs, white at center....................... Cerroneuroterus gyulaigaraiae (Melika) , asexual (fall) generation ( Fig. 62)

14. Succulent, spherical gall, up to 10 mm in diameter when mature, usually next to leaf vein. Tiny, soft and green, covered by short black hairs when young, green to velvety brown when mature................................................................................................. Chilaspis israeli (Sternlicht) , asexual (fall) generation ( Fig. 59)

- Gall up to 5 mm in diameter, elliptical or ovoid............................................................. 15

15. Rigid, elliptical gall on main leaf vein, up to 5 mm long, 3 mm high, usually on underside but sometimes on upperside of leaf or on petiole, light brown to brown........................ Pseudoneuroterus saliens , asexual (fall) generation ( Fig. 58)

- Ovoid gall, 1.5–3 mm long, sometimes on main leaf vein, up to 2 mm wide, accompanied by a thin, leafy ‘wing’, on underside of leaf. Yellow-green and shiny............................. Neuroterus anthracinus , asexual (fall) generation ( Fig. 66)

16. Conspicuous, spherical to ovoid twig gall, same color and structure of twig........................................................................................... Pseudoneuroterus macropterus Hartig , asexual (fall) generation

- Bud gall............................................................................................ 17

17. Cryptic spring gall.................................................................................... 18

- Conspicuous fall or spring gall.......................................................................... 19

18. Smooth, conical, single-unit gall, 1.5–2 mm long, sheathed by bud scales, thin walled, same color as scales............................................................. Pseudoneuroterus macropterus , sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 55)

- Velvety, spherical, gall, 4.5–5 mm in diameter, composed of several fused units, each 1.3–2 mm in diameter.................................................................. Pseudoneuroterus sp. 1, sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 56).

19. Spherical, smooth, single-unit gall....................................................................... 20

- Partly or completely hairy gall, composed of several units.................................................... 23

20. Gall up to 15 mm in diameter........................................................................... 21

- Gall more than 15 mm in diameter, multi-chambered........................................................ 22

21. Gall light green when young, light brown to brown when mature, sometimes slightly wrinkled, with free internal, ovoid larval chamber................ Aphelonyx persica Melika, Stone, Sadeghi & Pujade-Villar , asexual (fall) generation ( Figs 37–38)

- Gall same color as branch, extremely hard and thick-walled, without free internal larval chamber........................................................... Andricus coriarius gall invaded by Synophrus politus , sexual generation ( Fig. 41)

22. Spherical gall, sometimes wrinkly, up to 30 mm in diameter, light green and fleshy when young, light brown to brown and rigid when mature.......... Aphelonyx persica gall invaded by Synergus variabilis , asexual (fall) generation ( Figs 39–40).

- Spherical to amorphic gall, up to 30 mm in diameter, extremely hard, same color and texture as branch............................................ Synophrus olivieri Kieffer , sexual (spring) generation, original gall inducer unknown ( Fig. 42)

23. Very sticky, deeply grooved, velvety gall, up to 20 mm in diameter, at tips of young branches, bright green to deep purple........................................................ Dryocosmus mayri Müllner , sexual (fall) generation ( Fig. 46)

- Gall not sticky, different from above...................................................................... 24

24. Spherical gall composed of rigid mushroom-shaped subunits; green, soft and completely covered by short, white fuzz when young, woody and fuzzy only on tip of subunits when mature.................................................................................................... Andricus miriami Shachar , asexual (fall) generation ( Figs 43–44)

- Amorphous, very hairy gall, composed of small triangular subunits, densely covered by long hair, whitish-pinkish when young, golden-brown when mature.............................. Chilaspis israeli , sexual (spring) generation ( Fig. 45)