#gall midges

[walkingthewetlands]

8/11/2021, Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia

If you don't know about galls....now you will! The top and bottom image here are galls from gall midges. Galls are growths on plants, which can have many causes such as fungus or viruses. But in this case it's made by midges (a type of fly). Gall-inducing insects grow as larvae inside the plants, chemically inducing the plant to form these structures and feeding from them

Once I learned about galls, I never stopped finding them on plants...they are rather ubiquitous when you know what to look for