Hi, Stewers. Can anyone help me identify the midge-sized flying insect in the attached pic? I found a mini swarm of these flying around and crawling on an old oak tree in our yard. They are itsy bitsy wee things, smaller than a grain of rice. The container lip it is on in attached pic is 1.5"/ 3.8cm. The edge to the 1/2 way line is 0.75" /1.9cm. So this insect is ~0.15"/ 0.4cm long. Are these parasitoids or pest predators, interested in our oak because there are insect eggs and/or larvae hidden in the craggly oak bark? Or is the inside of this oak being devoured by some flying, wood eating beastie? Thanks in advance for any help.
Wait, is this the same critter I found 2 years ago? https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/insect-is-it-a-pest.42867/ They look similar, but the ones this year are 1/3rd the size as the wasps I found in 2011...
It does look more antish than waspish, I will admit. But ⅛" is very small for ants. I will try to do a better job getting another pic soon
Aw, Sean, just let him be... he is all ready to go courting, and once he has achieved that, the poor little chap will die - at least let him die happy
SeanLl … If your oak is attacked by the beetles you describe…The European oak bark beetle is a small wood boring pest of oak trees. It is native to Europe. Some international common names include the bark beetles and the oak bark beetle. We have the US version. I put down a granular systemic in fall. Please treat tree with a systemic designed to kill the larvae and adult beetles. If there are any signs of dead branches or decaying branches that also attracts carpenter ants that eat wood of decaying trees.. also homes… etc.
Yes, to stylishly start new colonies elsewhere, then the wings come off, then she gets permanently pregnant and bosses everybody around and it's work, work, work.
I believe that it is a wasp- like insect, rather than some sort of flying ant. First of all, in NY it is not the time of year for the new queen ants to be swarming, that happens in july or august usually. Further, I do not believe that this specimen is the same as what you showed last year for three reasons: there are no black spots on the wings of this year’s insect like on the one last year, the wing shape and length are different and the connection point of the abdomen and thorax on this year’s wasp is less hourglass-like than the former. These opinions are not really very helpful to you as it doesn’t give an answer to your question. Having said that, it could be helpful not to continue down the wrong path to correct identification. At any rate, my feeling is that it is not a harmful pest. Good luck identifying this interesting creature.
I found this article which relates to the right time of year in your neck of the woods, and is connected to oak trees https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/callirhytis-gall-wasps Hopefully it will prove helpful to you Sean. A picture of a callirhytis gall on white oak leaf.
Teeters the leaf gall site is creepy… the things we gardeners have to see and cope with ….’the good, the bad and the ugly’. In the pic is of tent catipillers that are really a huge pest in the PNW. The larvae over winters in the soil. In spring crawls up the tree trunk and munches the daylights out of all the leaves. They have defoliated leaves in forests killed all the trees. I put down a systemic every fall to keep them off several trees . Also have the European flea weevil also chews buck shot holes in elm leaves and causes elms to defoliate . This introduced beetle has become a serious elm pest and a real awakening how destructive many insects have become in our trees and garden plants.
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-...an elm flea weevil,the appearance of the tree. Pacnor, there isn't really any need to use an insecticide for this beetle as it will not kill your trees. I found the above link for you to have a look at. As for the leaf galls, I don't find them at all creepy, they are only little nests.
The flea beetles are right next to the patio where we have summer meals and these flea beetles bite cause a rash that seems to last forever. I should have added the other insect is a major pest …the elm leaf beetle is a huge pest here . Leaves holes in all the leaves. A few insecticides are systemic in plants, capable of moving through the plant providing so that they may control insects some distance from where the insecticide is applied. Most useful for control of elm leaf beetle are insecticides that can be applied to the soil and that then can move to the leaves where elm leaf beetles feed. https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/elm-leaf-beetles-5-521-2/
