Eriophyes licopolii Trotter & Cecconi, 1902

on Quercus

Quercus ilex, galls (from Houard, 1998a)

Quercus ilex, Spain, Madrid, Tres Cantos.11.vii.2021 © Gerrit Öhm

galled catkin

detail

gall

Of this gall two rather diverging descriptions exist:
According to Houard the anthers are enlarged to 5-6 mm long and 2 mm thick, adnd covered by a reddish-brown felt of stellate hair of which the rays are cylindrical with a blunt tip. His illustration (above) indeed does show a normal catkin with galled flowers.
Stork & Wüest at the other hand write that the axis of the catkin is swollen and bears male and female flowers that have been transformed into an, initially fleshy, ultimately lignified, mass, covered by a reddish-brown felt consisting of cylindrical trichomes with a blunt tip. Old galls remind of old alder-cones.

host plants

Fagaceae, narrowly monophagous

Quercus ilex.

synonyms

Aceria ilicis var. licopolii.

references

Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Houard (1908a), Stork & Wüest (1996a), Tavares (1905a), Tomasi (2014a).