Disholcaspis mellifica

Quercus garryana
Stem galls, detachable from the twig
Fig 134. Bursts out of cracks in the bark in rows and secretes copious honeydew when fresh, top flat, rugose.

Fig. 134. In rows on current year's growth in fall, secreting copious honeydew. Adults were dead when cut out in March. (Sequoia National Park).

Disholcaspis mellifica, new species

Host: Quercus garryana Dougl.

Gall: Bursting out of cracks in the bark, usually in rows, like galls of Callirhytis excavata (Ashm.) but extending only one or two millimeters up above the flaps of bark. On current year's growth in fall, often on sprouts close to the ground. The top is flat, rugose, and secretes honeydew. Larval cell basal and occupying most of the interior, the only thick dense tissue being directly above. Single galls from above measure up to 3 by 5 mm., but those in a row are much distorted by mutual pressure.

Habitat: The types are from galls collected Sept. 8, 1922, above Cedar Creek checking station in Sequoia National Park, Calif. The galls then contained larvae and secreted so much honeydew that it dripped to the ground and in the sun was even evaporated to a white solid. Pupae were found in galls on October 1. Dead adults were cut out Mar. 17, 1923. This is the undescribed gall whose secretion has been described more fully by the author (Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 177, 1925).

Disholcaspis mellifica

This cynipid wasp induces elliptical, flat-topped galls that appear to burst out of cracks in stems of scrub, leather, and Oregon oaks.

Hosts:
Quercus berberidifolia
Quercus durata
Quercus garryana