Skip to main content

Acacia melanoxylon gall midge (galls)

Dasineura furcata

Photo by Leuba Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
Zoom
NominateNominate for Wildlife Photograph of the Month
reportFlag Spotting

-37.894, 145.311

Field Notes

Description:

These galls were seen on an Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) tree. The galls varied in size, the largest being the size of a walnut. The gall appeared to have multiple locules elongated and twisted, each tubular locule had a small opening at its end.

Habitat:

Riparian zone at a local retarding basin.

Notes:

The galls were found at the end of primary stems. I could not see any other sign of insect life on the tree, except what looked like an egg case with holes in it ( pic #5). This was at the tip of a cladode.
This gall is said to be caused by a midge. I need to look further for more information.
Thanks to PenelopeMills2 for correcting the original ID and thanks to Mark Ridgway for his help. Finally I got the correct ID from Dr. Lyn Cook. My thanks to her for the help.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2005.00287.x

Species ID Suggestions

Acacia melanoxylon gall midge

Dasineura furcata

Reference Link
l.cook
2

Comments (7)
Leuba Ridgway
Thank you so much l.Cook for looking at this spotting and for the ID.
Leuba Ridgway
Thank you so much for looking at this spotting and for the information, PenelopeMills2. I am always hoping that someone with expertise would look at galls on PN an correct or suggest an ID. I will have to revisit my reference to see where I've gone wrong. Thanks again for your input - have learnt something today !! Will check Mark Ridgway's suggestion.
Mark Ridgway
Acacia specific midge 'Dasyneura dielsi' http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964409002709
PenelopeMills2
These galls do not appear to be male galls of Apiomorpha - Apiomorpha is host-specific to Eucalyptus.
Mark Ridgway
Looks like each end has been truncated - bitten off also.
Leuba Ridgway
These are perhaps cladodes ( modified stems) that have been deformed by thrip infestation??
Mark Ridgway
Well that's a fine example of making chaos out of order. What a blob! There must be some interesting stories behind these things.

Tags

Photographed
PublishedJanuary 14, 2012

Community Sponsor

Butterfly
Become a Community Sponsor and Help Grow our Global Movement!

Accelerate our Mission to Photograph 
Every Species in the World!

Butterflies icon
Become a Community Sponsor

Wildlife Community

Wildlife Community

Join a worldwide community passionate about wildlife and nature!

Join Project Noah

Nature School

Nature School

Transform your green space into a curiosity-creating nature classroom!

Visit Nature School

Wildlife Game

Wildlife Game

Defend wildlife throughout the jungle in thrilling nature game!

Play Baboon

Nature & Conservation Organizations

Brands & Mission-Focused Companies