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Heidi Eaton

@heidi-eaton.bsky.social

The February photo from @bugeric.bsky.social and my calendar we make for family is this close-up of a gall caused by a tiny wasp in the genus Acraspis on a Chinkapin Oak leaf. #insects #galls #macrophotography

A tiny gall is attached to the vein of an oak leaf. The gall is pale green and spiky and the tips of the spikes are a reddish-purple color. This gall is caused by a tiny wasp in the genus Acraspis.

February 8, 2026 at 10:17 PM

marshy

@dolomedes.bsky.social

some #galls for #invertefest

Acraspis sp. (erinacei?), like a spikey-haired egg stuck on a leaf. this contains a few cynipid wasp larvae

on the underside of the same leaf as the previous Acraspis gall

Polystepha pilulae i reckon, brown lumpy structures growing on the top of a black oak leaf, with a tasty-looking crust on top...

leaf fulla P. pilulae. some midges are gonna come out of here eventually

August 31, 2024 at 4:18 AM

Heidi Eaton

@heidi-eaton.bsky.social

Galls are amazing things! They can be caused by fungi, bacteria, or viruses, or as in this case - an insect. This spiky gall on a Chinkapin Oak is caused by a tiny wasp in the genus Acraspis. The larva develop inside the gall which is formed from mutated tissue of the oak leaf itself. #insects #gall