Bug FAQLive Oak Apple Gall Wasp
Amphibolips quercuspomiformis · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Cynipidae
The wasp makes round, up-to-40 mm galls in summer and small toadstool-shaped galls in spring.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Summer galls are green or red when fresh, then turn brown. Spring galls look like tiny toadstools.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Summer galls can grow up to 40 mm across.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It forms galls on coast live oak and interior live oak.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species alternates between an all-female generation and a bisexual generation.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Round galls are produced in summer by the unisexual generation. Toadstool-shaped galls appear in spring from the bisexual generation.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When do the different galls appear?
Round galls show up in summer, while small toadstool-shaped galls appear in spring.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cynipidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibolips_quercuspomiformis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.