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Leaf-bud gall

Fergusonia sp Order: Diptera

Photo by Leuba Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Reddish pink galls around the stems of a young eucalyptus tree. The galls involved two stems and young leaves. The thickening around the stem ended in about three bulbous growths, one of these with at least three apical holes. At least two of these rounded parts had a filiform projection from the free end (pic 3), like a flower pistil.
Photos 3,4 &5 are of another but similar gall off another E.viminalis. Sections of the gall showed locules with powdery material and white strands like fungal hyphae.

Habitat:

Spotted on a Manna gum - Eucalyptus viminalis

Notes:

This ID needs confirmation. There were no flower buds on this young tree.

This link provides some information on Fergusonia fly galls-
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222930903383545#preview

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
Leuba Ridgway
Martin, I have added some dissected gall photos ( another similar gall on E.viminalis). Could see locules but nothing as defined as the fergusonia galls in my other spotting. Unfortunately, I could not locate the gall in pics 1,2 & 3 again.
Leuba Ridgway
Thanks Martin. I will have to look for it and perhaps dissect it as you suggest. The only fergusonia galls I found were in shrivelled-up terminal ends of young shoots http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9347110
MartinL
I expect they are wasp galls similar to these http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8045518 http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/13926037 You might do a dissection for the sake of science.
Photographed
PublishedMarch 27, 2013

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