Fringed-cup gall adult
An adult emerged from one of the galls in this original observation. Good to see after rescuing the galls from a fungus that was spreading mycelia around the galls in their original container (I'm not good at this sort of thing). I'm resigned to euthanizing the thing if there is some place I can send the insect for further identification. Also curious how best to preserve it. Any advice would be appreciated.
@megachile @nancyasquith @calconey @jeffdc @ceiseman
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Congratulations!
You need to contact Ray Gagne who can be reached at rgagne rcn.com with ampersand between the two. He usually recommends preserving the adult midge in 70% ethyl alcohol.
Madily has done this recently--see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/78397895
Hopefully, the adult midge is enough. It seems he sometimes wants the gall and/or the pupa in addition.
Good luck!
Oops - forgot to report here that Ray Gagné examined the galls and pupae of these galls and replied: "I compared both [galls and pupae] to specimens of Asphondylia resinosa in the collection and can say with confidence that I can find no differences between your and our specimens of that species." He also mentioned that, at least for Larrea galls, "[t]he way to determine whether you have a new species is not by the adult, which may not differ very much from other species, but by the larvae and pupae."
Fabulous! Thanks for keeping us all in the loop. @silversea_starsong @susanmf @madily @garth_harwood @egordon88
I'm not familiar with a "fringed cup gall" on this host? If you mean the young resinosa galls linked above, I have several like it.
Yep, it appears to be just a variation in the species. They differ from the usual local A. resinosa in having that fringe, though others have also noted having seen them with the fringe. It's nice to have it confirmed.
@cwbarrows @eogren I know you will both be fascinated with Steve Jones follow-up on a December 2021 observation
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