#cynipoidea

If ten million wasps arise

Euderus set, or the "crypt keeper wasp" is a small Eulophid parasitoid of the gall wasp Bassettia pallida.

The female Euderus set will search for the galls or "crypts" induced by the gall wasp Bassettia pallida, but possibly also Andricus quercuspetiolicola and others. The female E. set will then oviposit in the chamber of the gall. When the E. set larva hatches, it will burrow into the host wasp. It then manipulates the host to speed up its development, metamorphoses into an adult, and chews its way up to the surface months earlier than normal. When the host wasp does this, the burrow isn't wide enough for it to emerge from the stem, and its head becomes stuck. The parasitoid then consumes the host and chews through the host's head to emerge as an adult. The larva of E. set overwinters in the gall, eating the host, and emerges the following spring. The mechanism used to manipulate the host is unknown.

This female apparently got overly enthusiastic and took things one step further by wearing her host's head as a costume. Happy Halloween!

📍 Location: Durham, North Carolina 🗓 Date: May 8, 2026 🐾 Media: Image 🌿 Species: Spiny Rose Gall Wasp (Diplolepis bicolor) 📝 Notes: Small cynipid wasp associated with wild roses, best known for inducing distinctive spherical galls covered in pointed spines on stems or leaves. The visible gall is plant tissue growth triggered by the developing larva inside.

Adults are tiny and rarely noticed; the gall itself is usually the most recognizable sign of the species. Galls may shift in color from green to red or brown as they mature.

As the year comes to a close I wish to inundate you all with some of the coolest, prettiest or strangest wasp photos uploaded to iNat this year, inspired by @cathartidae's wauce blasts

Gonatopus and liopterid

Gasteruption and Cameronella

Eumenine and Smicromorpha doddi

Ammophila wrightii and Stilbula

Pelecinus polyturator and Chrysis viridula

Tracheliodes curvitarsis and Oxyscelio

Orasema and Apoica pallens

Scelionids and Feron kingi

Neotriadomerus and Phlebopenes

Euplectromorpha variegata and chalcids

Antron douglasii and Stylaclista

Synergus and Obenbergerella

Elasmosoma and Polistes dominula

Odontophotopsis melicausa and Stizus texanus

Stypiura and Radumeris tasmaniensis

And a few other oak galls