Aceria brachytarsa

Aceria amiculus
Eriophyes brevitarsus

Hosts: Juglans hindsii, californica, nigra

Relationship: Undersurface purse galls; purse galls filled with parenchymatous tissue and sparse hairs, with channels for mite development. The leaf gall on Juglans nigra is mostly on the upper surface and hollow with hairs; nothing like this gall.

Range: CA, OH, WA, WV

Notes:

Eriophyes brevitarsus was preoccupied by the senior homonym, Eriophyes brevitarsus Fockeu, 1890, which was later assigned to Acalitus brevitarsus (Fockeu). Farkas (1965) changed the spelling to Aceria brevitarsa (Fockeu).

Aceria amiculus (Keifer, 1940) is the deutogyne and junior synonym according to Keifer (1969), in C3 [358: 15].

The mite causing leaf galls in Juglans nigra is a different species.

The pouch galls induced by this mite on the upper surface of the leaves invariably appear at random between the lateral veins and on the midrib. The galls are often solitary, 3.6 mm in dimension, irregularly globular, and shiny with roughened surface. They range from green to yellowish green with red-dish or brown tinge. The interior of the gall, which becomes red as it matures, consists of multicellular structures, as shown in plate 6, E. Galls at times are numerous on some trees, causing considerable distortion to the foliage.