Oak-gall-wasps
Guides
Cynipini
Oak Gall Wasps
Cynipini is the largest tribe of gall wasps in the family Cynipidae, comprising approximately 936 to 1,000 described species. Members are commonly known as oak gall wasps due to their specialized association with oaks (Quercus) and other Fagaceae. The tribe is primarily distributed in the Holarctic region, with significant diversity also in Mexico and Central America. Cynipini species induce structurally diverse galls on various oak tissues including leaves, buds, branches, petioles, catkins, acorns, and roots. Most species exhibit cyclical parthenogenesis, alternating between sexual and asexual generations that often produce different gall morphotypes on the same or different host tissues.
Nichollsiella
Nichollsiella is a genus of oak cynipid gall wasps described in 2021 from the Nearctic region. The genus comprises three species: N. arizonica, N. sulcata, and N. puigi. As members of the tribe Cynipini, these wasps induce galls on oak trees. The genus was established during a broader taxonomic revision that reorganized several previously described species into new genera based on morphological and molecular data.