Bug FAQPumpkin Gall Wasp
Dryocosmus minusculus
Fresh galls are light-colored with a darker spot in the middle. The wasp makes these galls on oak trees in California, North America. It lays its eggs on the leaves of coast live oak, interior live oak, and California black oak.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
New galls appear pale with a darker center.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Galls are produced on oak trees in California, North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The wasp oviposits on leaves of Quercus agrifolia, Q. wislizenii, and Q. kelloggii.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon.
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
Questions people ask
Which oak species are affected by the pumpkin gall wasp?
It lays eggs on coast live oak, interior live oak, and California black oak.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does the pumpkin gall wasp occur?
It creates galls on oak trees in California, which is part of North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryocosmus_minusculus
Look it up elsewhere: iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.