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Polythalamous bud galls on a young red oak - always assumed the site was predominantly Q. rubra, but Q. coccinea might be present as well.

In any case, I can't quite place these. The overall shape reminds me of B. caepuliformis, but they're structurally much more like little garlic bulbs; each "clove" contains a cell with a larva inside.

@megachile @jeffdc @calconey

On Quercus sinuata.

Photos 1 & 2: backlit gall formed on developing leaf bud.

Photos 3 & 4: galls developing on leaf margin and mid-stem.

Photos 5, 6, & 7: Disected developing "fresh" gall and larva made out of little cell-like pieces.

Photos 8 & 9: dry gall/dissected chamber. I think I may have accidentally smashed its inhabitant, I could not find it :( It also may have pupated and flown away. ¯\ (ツ)/¯

https://www.gallformers.org/gall/4807

Finally got a chance to revisit the site of https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143630146 and sampled another three galls. Figuring they'd all be empty already, I sectioned one in the field and lucked out on a live adult female! Large, intact specimen with tons of golden setae, beautiful. Leaning Q. macrocarpa on the host for all three, probably the original find as well.

Been digging around on Gallformers trying to find something similar and the closest I've gotten is Cynips heldae (https://www.gallformers.org/gall/1368) - but the host/range/gall location don't match. Very similar structure, though.

@adeans @calconey @jeffdc @megachile

Many of these detachable leaf galls on planted bluff oaks in a commercial landscape. Gall clusters attached directly to midvein on lower leaf surface. Each individual gall around 3.6 mm wide by 4.3 mm tall. Interior firm but fleshy and succulent, with a single central larval cell.

Wooo! he emerged!!!
For it being the largest mosquito species in the US, it does seem kind of small, although it's definitely very loud when it flies.
baby picture: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/128965436
Found in a root phytotelma of a Fagus grandifolia, reared indoors.

I find the spectrogram very interesting. It looks like the fundamental frequency is at about 800Hz. Crickets and most other things I've recorded have very clean songs without harmonics, so I was surprised to see the lovely harmonic series on the spectrogram. I'm also surprised by how low the fundamental frequency is, I would have thought it was much higher. Mosquitoes sound very high-pitched!

Largest mosquito larva I've ever seen. In a root phytotelma of a Fagus grandifolia
No wonder the water was conspicuously devoid of other mosquito larvae! Well, there were a couple of tiny ones, I guess too small for it to eat.

Update: emerged on 8/9/22, it's a male: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130103645

Cercis canadensis
This gall/mine had no sign on the top of the leaf; On bottom, all galls had a characteristic black streak in the middle. Galls 4-5 mm.

I examined 122 leaf mines. 73% were empty, 21% contained larvae or pupae. Larvae are white, the pupae initially white before darkening.

• 18 mines contained larvae (8 small, 6 medium, 4 large)
• 7 mines contained pupae (6 white stage)
• 2 mines had a midge pupal exuvium just outside the mine, suggesting that those individuals has wriggled out of the mine before emerging.
• 89 mines were empty, either with an exuvium inside the mine (29) or not, or with signs of predation.

Compare gallformers.org Unknown c-canadensis-blister-gall
https://gallformers.org/gall/3475

On Crimson Spire Oak (Q. robur x Q. alba) Gall photos included. This adult emerged as I cut into gall. Some gall wasps on tree have already started emerging. Tree has only been in the ground for 2 years, new home development.

-very strange oak
-few lobes, some even look maple-like (this is definitely way out of range for maple-leaf oak!)
-site is wet forest on black, organic soils over dense clay
-this tree is in a very diverse oak community that includes Q. shumardii, Q. palustris, and Q. rubra which it may be a hybrid of.
-acorns are very large, have faint striping
-leaves have orange tufts of hair at vein/mid rib junctions on leaf undersides (like Q. shumardii does)
-is it a Shumard oak with strange lobes?
-is is a Shumard hybrid such as Q. x riparia (Shumard x red oak hybrid) or Q. x mutabilis (Shumard x pin oak)?

My best guess: Q. x fernowii, a hybrid between post oak and white oak. The leaves have more lobes than typical on a post oak. I found other post oaks in the park with leaves that have the classic Maltese cross shape.