Favoritos de megachile

1 inquiline emerged from Druon ignotum collected on Quercus macrocarpa on 10/21/2022 (cup#358, tree#218) <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

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2023-04-26T17:31:55

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this thing was found in a small cliffside, tucked away in a nook, at first i thought it was a root but then i picked it up and it was super light and porous it had small holes in it, which makes me thinks its a gall of some kind, but it was underground so i am very confused

An Ichneumonoid wasp hatched out of it: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48895456

08.06.2020:
Picture 4: Gall_1; mostly green, coloured brown around the opening. The attachment point on the leaf was on the right side.
Picture 5: Gall_1; dissected
Picture 6: Gall_1; dissected, 80x magnification
Picture 7: Gall_2; completely brown, dissected, faeces (?) inside
Picture 8 and 9: thing I found inside Gall_2. Size: 1.5mm

This wasp hatched out of a Phyllocoptes eupadi gall (Obs.: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48548815 )
The second picture was taken at 20x magnification. Specimen available for additional pictures.

1. vertical section
2. exterior surface
3. R. solidaginis gall (L) vs. P. atra terminal gall (R). Smaller galls farther to the right are lateral bud galls of P. atra from the same host plant as the P. atra terminal gall, found along the stem < a few cm below the terminal gall.

Dissection of leaf galls on Ulmus crassifolia

Continuation of this discussion:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1931782

Description of photos:
1 - General
2 - General (closer)
3 - Eriophid mite at 40x mag
4 - Inside of gall at 40x mag
5 - Inside gall and mites at 40x mag
6 - Inside another gall and mites at 40x mag
7 - Inside gall and mites at 40x mag
8 - Outside surface of gall at 40x mag
9 - General pic of sample
10 - General pic of sample
11 - Lateral view of sample
12 - Specific gall used in dissection
13 - Close up, top down view of specific gall used in dissection
14 - Lateral view of specific gall used in dissection
15 - Lateral view of specific gall used in dissection
16 - Measurement of gall 3-4mm
17 - Abaxial (underside of) leaf showing 2 gall marks
18 - Close up of gall mark on underside
19 - Bisected gall (used a razor blade)
20 - Close up of interior of gall; mites visible
21 - Close up of interior of gall; mites visible
22 - Additional gall showing exterior structure
23 - Additional gall has only a slight stem, making it appear (to the eye) on the leaf surface

Video Link: https://youtu.be/VByatNDqJ64

More details:

• I used a razor blade and plastic tweezers for dissection
• Some photos are with my Samsung S9 cell phone camera, others with my Olympus and a 60mm macro lens. (Next time I'll switch to a diff lens to get better pics.)
• Microscopic views are at 40x. I tried to get 100x images of the mites, but I'll need to find a way to separate them from the gall for next time.
• Microscopic images are taken with my cell phone held up to the microscope eye piece. Not the best solution, but it worked for a first try. I've requested a SEM for Christmas. ;)
• Video is taken the same way as the microscopic still images. Note that the lens on lens caused distortion, and the camera tries to auto-focus as well. Things I'll try to find a better solution to for next time.