Bug FAQRed Cone Gall Wasp
Feron kingi · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Cynipidae
The red cone gall wasp makes small, detachable red cone galls about 5 mm tall on both sides of oak leaves, often many per leaf.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Each gall is about 5 mm tall and can be detached from the leaf.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
The wasp induces galls on several white oak species, including valley oak (Quercus lobata).
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Parthenogenetic females develop inside the detachable red cone galls.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It belongs to the gall wasp family Cynipidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 48 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, Virginia, Oregon, Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio.
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
Same family (Cynipidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feron_kingi
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.