Oak trees host an incredible number of species who rely on their shade, acorns, pollen, and bark. Some insects take it a step further, parasitizing and changing the oak's growth through chemical and mechanical influence to create galls. The distinctive red cone gall wasp (Feron kingi) forms its galls on the leaves of white oaks (Quercus sp.) (1st and 2nd images). The larval chamber within the gall provides a safe place for the young wasps to grow and develop through the fall, until they crawl out of the cone's point in February. If you've ever seen what looked like a brown apple hanging from a live oak tree (Quercus agrifolia or q. wislizeni), then you've spotted another common wasp gall! The live oak apple gall wasp (Amphibolips quercuspomiformis) deposits its eggs in the stem buds of a live oak during the summer. The oak grows a round, pulpy home for the developing wasps, who have plenty of space in the galls central larval chamber. The wasps emerge the following spring. Galls can also be found on many shrubs, including manzanitas (Arctostaphylos sp.). The manzanita leafgall aphid induces a fold in the leaf of a manzanita by stinging a specific cells in a pattern that causes the leaf to swell and fold over the female aphid. Once protected within the leaf fold, the aphid begins producing young, turning the manzanita leaf into a bright red, fleshy nursery. Other parasites forego plants for more mobile prey, like rodents or other mammals. The Cuterebra in picture 5 is part of a group known as bot flies. Female botflies deposit their eggs directly onto a host (or sometimes, through an intermediate vector like a mosquito, housefly, or tick), and the hatching larvae burrow down into the warmth and safety of their mammalian host. Once they reach their mature size as larvae, they burrow out of their host and pupate in the soil. Our Oaktober iNaturalist observations showcase some of the spookier residents found here at the Foundation. If you'd like to contribute to our understanding of the flora and fauna of TPF, check out our iNaturalist project here: https://lnkd.in/guyb9Dix! #tpf #californianativeplants #californianativewildlife #theodorepaynefoundation #iNaturalist #communityscience
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