Bug FAQThimbleberry Gall Wasp
Diastrophus kincaidii
The thimbleberry gall wasp makes stem galls on thimbleberry plants. These galls serve as a base for a weevil and at least nine parasitic wasp species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The wasp creates stem galls on thimbleberry that become homes for other insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives on thimbleberry plants where it forms integral stem galls.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The galls provide the foundation for a small ecosystem that includes a weevil and many parasitic wasps.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 11 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho.
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
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastrophus_kincaidii
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.