Bug FAQOdontocynips nebulosa
Odontocynips nebulosa · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Cynipidae
The wasp makes round galls about 1 to 1.3 cm across on the roots of young oak shoots, often a few centimeters below the soil surface. Adults are tiny and seldom seen; they emerge from the galls in late winter or early spring, typically February to March. It occurs across the southeastern and central United States, from Florida and Texas up to Missouri and Arkansas.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Fresh galls are covered with smooth, light bark that matches the host root, and they harden to a woody texture when dry. Inside, the larval chambers are roughly 6 to 8 mm wide.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult wasp is very small and rarely observed.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives on tangled roots of young oak shoots in dense thickets where leaf litter has built up. Galls are formed on the roots, sometimes 5 to 10 cm below ground level.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The life cycle can span two years, with pupae found in October and adults emerging later that month.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The complete development may require two years.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to the southeastern and central United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
For many years it was confused with a common mealy-white gall on oak leaves, which is now known to be caused by a different, undescribed species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 3 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Missouri, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When do adult Odontocynips nebulosa wasps appear?
Adults emerge from their root galls in late winter or early spring, typically from February through March.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the galls of Odontocynips nebulosa look like?
The galls are round, 10 to 13 mm in diameter, covered with smooth light bark when fresh and become hard and woody as they dry.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is Odontocynips nebulosa found?
It occurs across the southeastern and central United States, from Florida and Texas up to Missouri and Arkansas, on the roots of young oak shoots in dense thickets.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Cynipidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontocynips_nebulosa
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.