Cynipidae
Creators: name: Shachar, Einat
name: Melika, George
name: Inbar, Moshe
name: Dorchin, Netta
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae

description: Key to galls of Israeli oak Cynipidae on Quercus boissieri
1. Bud galls............................................................................................ 2
- Leaf, acorn, or catkin gall.............................................................................. 18
2. Spherical gall with or without spines or protuberances........................................................ 9
- Gall not spherical..................................................................................... 3
3. Gall composed of several distinct, elongate or tapered lobes (Figs 15–17)......................................... 4
- Gall not composed of distinct, elongate lobes (Figs 21, 23–26).................................................. 5
4. Irregularly shaped gall up to 65 mm in diameter, composed of long, tapered, delicate lobes of varying length, pale green when young, brown and woody when mature................ Andricus coriarius (Hartig), asexual (fall) generation (Figs 15–16)
- Gall usually composed of 3 thick, widely splayed lobes........................................................................................... Andricus coriariformis Melika, Challis & Stone, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 17)
5. Scaly, artichoke-like brown gall, up to 13 mm wide and 20 mm long, in apical buds. Tip of gall tightly closed when young, open when mature............................. Andricus foecundatrix (Hartig), asexual (fall) generation (Figs 23–24)
- Gall different from above............................................................................... 6
6. Cylindrical, velvety, light brown gall in apical bud, narrowest at mid part......................................................................................... Andricus tomentosus (Trotter), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 25)
- Gall different from above............................................................................... 7
7. Gall with very long and pointed, sometimes curved apex, widest basally. Brown and woody. Very rare....................................................................... Andricus solitarius (Fonscolombe), asexual (fall) generation
- Gall different from above............................................................................... 8
8. Rigid, pentagon-shaped gall, 5–15 mm in diameter, composed of 5 velvety units. Green when young, brown when mature. Rare.......................................... Andricus megatruncicolus Melika, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 21)
- Carambola-shaped gall, with 3–4 distinct longitudinal ridges, 5–7 mm long, 3–5 mm wide. Green when young, pale brown when mature.................................................. Andricus sp. 3, sexual (spring) generation (Fig. 26)
9. Gall entirely composed of distinct lobes forming spherical structure (Figs 9–11)................................... 10
- Gall is spiny or smooth sphere, not composed of discrete lobes (Figs 5–6, 13–14, 18–20, 22)......................... 12
10. Gall composed of short and thick, pyramidal lobes, 20–40 mm in diameter, pinkish and spongy............................................................................. Andricus curtisii (Müller), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 11)
- Gall composed of long tapered extensions................................................................. 11
11. Gall up to 6 mm in diameter, green to purple, sticky and flexible when young, light brown and woody when mature. On lower branches close to the ground.............................. Andricus hystrix Kieffer, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 10)
- Gall up to 20 mm in diameter, with longitudinal ridges between lobes. Bright green and sticky when young, light brown and woody when mature................................. Andricus grossulariae Giraud, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 9)
12. Irregularly spherical gall, up to 20 mm in diameter, smooth, wrinkly, without spines or projections, pale brown................................................................. Biorhiza pallida Olivier, sexual (spring) generation (Fig. 22)
- Gall completely or partially covered by spines or projections.................................................. 13
13. Projections or spines distributed uniformly on entire gall surface............................................... 14
- Projections or spines usually confined to specific part of gall, not covering entire surface............................ 15
14. Gall more than 25 mm in diameter, densely covered by brittle, slightly curved, thin and blunt spines up to 10 mm in length. Shiny green and sticky when young, pale brown and woody when mature............................................................................................... Andricus cecconii Kieffer, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 6)
- Gall usually much smaller, covered by straight, blunt, short spines, up to 6 mm in length. Light green or red and sticky when young, brown and woody when mature..................... Andricus lucidus (Hartig), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 5)
15. Big gall, more than 18 mm in diameter.................................................................... 16
- Smaller gall, up to 15 mm in diameter.................................................................... 17
16. Gall up to 30 mm in diameter, bearing 2–3 mm long projections, often joined by shallow ridges. Pale green when young, very pale brown and extremely hard when mature. Very common.................................................................................... Andricus sternlichti Bellido, Pujade-Villar & Melika, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 20)
- Gall of up to 40 mm in diameter, with circle of tiny spines around widest part. Green, soft, fleshy and sticky when young, deep plum-like purple and rigid when mature.............. Andricus quercustozae (Bosc), asexual (fall) generation (Figs 13–14)
17. Gall without stalk, with apical ‘crown’, resembling blueberry. On branch tips, mostly in clusters. Green when young, brown and very hard when mature............................. Andricus moreae (Graeffe), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 18)
- Gall carried on long stalk, with very short apical projections up to 1.2 mm long, pale brown. Only on Mt. Hermon....................................................................... Andricus sp. 1, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 19)
18. Acorn gall.......................................................................................... 19
- Leaf or catkin gall.................................................................................... 20
19. Gall densely covered by long, curved, tapered and branching spines up to 30 mm long. Pink and sticky when young, pale brown and woody when old. Only on Mt. Hermon..... Andricus caputmedusae (Hartig), asexual (fall) generation (Figs 7–8)
- Gall evenly covered by short spines up to 3 mm long, green when young, very pale brown to white with purple spines when mature. Very rare...................................... Andricus chodjaii Melika, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 12)
20. Catkin gall.......................................................................................... 21
- Leaf gall............................................................................................ 22
21. Spherical gall, up to 8 mm in diameter, fleshy, shiny, light green with purple ‘veins’......................................................................... Neuroterus quercusbaccarum (Linnaeus), sexual (spring) generation (Fig. 27)
- Clustered galls, each 2 mm in diameter, light brown to yellow, densely covered by whitish, short, hairs............................................................................... Andricus sp. 2, sexual (spring) generation (Fig. 28)
22. Elongate gall, 5–15 mm long, usually with acute tip, soft and green when young, hard and reddish-brown when mature. Very rare; only on Mt. Hermon.................................. Cynips cornifex Hartig, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 29)
- Circular, spherical or ovoid galls......................................................................... 23
23. Flat, blister-like gall between upper and lower epidermis of leaf, 3 mm in diameter, paler green than leaf............................................................. Neuroterus numismalis (Geoffroy), sexual (spring) generation (Fig. 30)
- Gall on underside surface of leaf. Different from above....................................................... 24
24. Small, ovoid gall attached to main leaf vein, 1.5–3 mm long, up to 2 mm wide, accompanied by two thin, leafy ‘wings’. Yellowish-green and shiny when young, with purple or red dots when mature......................................................................................... Neuroterus anthracinus (Curtis), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 31)
- Circular or spherical gall, different from above............................................................. 25
25. Gall is entire sphere, clustered or solitary (Figs 32–33)...................................................... 26
- Gall is half sphere, ring-shaped or flat, usually in clusters (Figs 34–36).......................................... 27
26. Gall is fleshy, firm sphere, 15–25 mm in diameter, light green with white dots when young, yellowish with white dots when old, usually in clusters................................. Cynips quercus (Fourcroy), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 32)
- Gall is crinkled sphere, 4–6 mm in diameter, green when young, light brown when old, not in clusters........................................................................... Cynips divisa Hartig, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 33)
27. Fleshy dome or doughnut-shaped gall.................................................................... 28
- Flat, thin gall, sometimes with raised margins, up to 7 mm in diameter, usually in clusters. Pale green to dark pink or purple................................................... Neuroterus albipes (Schenck), asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 34)
28. Dome-shaped gall, 3 mm high above leaf surface, up to 6 mm in diameter, pale green when young, with dark pink rim or completely pink when mature....................... Neuroterus quercusbaccarum, asexual (fall) generation (Figs 35–36A)
- Doughnut-shaped gall, up to 2 mm above leaf surface and 3 mm in diameter, with central pit, silky brown.................................................................... Neuroterus numismalis, asexual (fall) generation (Fig. 36B)
description: Published as part of Shachar, Einat, Melika, George, Inbar, Moshe & Dorchin, Netta, 2018, The oak gall wasps of Israel (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini) - diversity, distribution and life history, pp. 451-498 in Zootaxa 4521 (4) on pages 456-457, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4521.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/2610021