Cynipid gall wasps

Phylogeny, Evolution and Classification of Gall Wasps: The Plot Thickens

Gall wasps (Cynipidae) represent the most spectacular radiation of gall-inducing insects. In addition to true gall formers, gall wasps also include phytophagous inquilines, which live inside the galls induced by gall wasps or other insects. Here we present the first comprehensive molecular and total-evidence analyses of higher-level gall wasp relationships. We studied more than 100 taxa represe...

Bayesian Phylogenetics and the Evolution of Gall Wasps

Using Gall Wasps on Oaks to Test Broad Ecological Concepts

Planning conservation of insect herbivores requires knowing what needs to be conserved and developing a set of predictor variables that aid management. We conducted a state-wide survey to examine the species richness of gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on six oak species dominant in the threatened scrub-oak vegetation in peninsular Florida. Eighty-eight cynipid species were recorded; 23 were...

Oak cynipid gall inquilines of Iran (Hym.: Cynipidae: Synergini), with description of new species

ده گونه زنبور اینکوئیلاین (inquiline) همزیست با زنبورهای گالزای بلوط (خانواده‌ی Cynipidae) متعلق به قبیله‌های Cynipini و Synergini برای اولین بار از ایران گزارش می‌شوند. مناطق پراکنش و ارتباط میزبانی آنها نیز ارائه می‌گردد. این گونه ها عبارتند از: Ceroptres cerri Mayr، C. clavicornis Hartig، Saphonecrus haimi (Mayr)، Synergus gallaepomiformis (B. de Fonsc.)، S. pallidipennis Mayr، S. pallipes H...

The population biology of oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae).

Oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini) are characterized by possession of complex cyclically parthenogenetic life cycles and the ability to induce a wide diversity of highly complex species- and generation-specific galls on oaks and other Fagaceae. The galls support species-rich, closed communities of inquilines and parasitoids that have become a model system in community ecology. We...