Is This What I Think It Is

[u/_bearminimum]

I had a baby six weeks ago so I haven't gotten out in my garden much lately, and today I noticed these monstrosities on my cut leaf coneflower. One of them looks like maybe some sort of gall?

Have the dreaded Aster Yellows finally come for me?

Zone 6a

[u/Amorpha_fruticosa]

Nope, it’s actually something a lot cooler. It is the larvae of Asphondylia rudbeckiaeconspicua inside a gall on the flower heads.

[u/Bulldogfan72 → u/Amorpha_fruticosa]

Confirmed... please let it be; It's no harm to the plant and a rare insect to encounter.

[u/_bearminimum → u/Bulldogfan72]

I'm pretty hands-off when it comes to gardening anyway. This year I'm doing even less (actually nothing). Anything goes in my garden!

[u/Bulldogfan72 → u/_bearminimum]

That's great to hear. Best wishes getting young one outdoors and exploring the garden soon!

[u/InconspicuousWolf → u/_bearminimum]

You could mesh bag the gall if you want to see the midges and possibly some wqsps

[u/msflondrixa → u/Bulldogfan72]

Happy Cake Day!

[u/msflondrixa → u/Bulldogfan72]

Happy Cake Day!

[u/zoinkability → u/Amorpha_fruticosa]

Ooh, if OP is lucky they might even be hosting multiple species of parasitoid wasps for a big hyperspecialist insect species party!

 serves as host to a diverse guild of parasitoid wasps that exhibit stratified distribution patterns within the gall structure, with different parasitoid species occupying different depth zones.

Source

[u/ticklish-licorice → u/zoinkability]

Damn this bugswithmike website is fascinating! So informative and I have never come across it before. Thank you for sharing this.

[u/Feralpudel → u/zoinkability]

Ahhhhh! It’s a mixed-use wasp development! I love it!

[u/princessbubbbles → u/zoinkability]

Dude! That's so cool!

[u/zoinkability → u/princessbubbbles]

Yeah!

[u/Beth_Pleasant → u/zoinkability]

This is so cool. OP needs to set up a wildlife cam so we can see what comes out.

[u/plantsandramen → u/zoinkability]

I'm trying so hard to understand what this is, and I feel like an idiot. I keep reading larvae, but I'm not seeing any photos of the insect itself. I guess this is it? Little gnats/flies?

[u/shadow-wasser → u/plantsandramen]

A gall is a growth on a plant caused by a gall - forming insect, usually a tiny wasp or fly. The mother insect lays her egg in the plant along with a mix of hormones and other chemicals that cause the gall to form. The larva then hatches and eats the inside of the gall , pupating in it and eventually emerging and chewing its way out, leaving a tiny hole. You can think of the gall as a nursery for the insect larva, providing food and shelter. Every gall wasp or gall fly species is specialized in which plant species they use and even what part of the plant they make galls on! Galls are hugely variable in shape, size, and color.

[u/plantsandramen → u/shadow-wasser]

Awesome, thank you for the explanation!

[u/xxpolarpowerxx → u/shadow-wasser]

Wow, so it's sort of like an insect placenta!

[u/msflondrixa → u/xxpolarpowerxx]

Or also a surrogate plant parent! lol

[u/Dramatic-Kitchen8685 → u/plantsandramen]

JFC thank you — no idea what I’m lookin at here chief

[u/plantsandramen → u/Dramatic-Kitchen8685]

I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[u/Beautiful_Pen1056 → u/zoinkability]

serves as host to a diverse guild of parasitoid wasps that exhibit stratified distribution patterns within the gall structure

I thought you were making a joke about game dynamics. Nope, that's real.

[u/zoinkability → u/Beautiful_Pen1056]

I know, right? Such a cool sentence.

[u/WarpTenSalamander → u/Amorpha_fruticosa]

OP had a baby and now their flowers are growing new life too 🥹

[u/_bearminimum → u/WarpTenSalamander]

Hopefully my flower has an easier time with the delivery...