Goldenrod galls are round growths growing on plant stems that protect overwintering fly larvae. Birds extract the larvae during winter and eat them.

Goldenrod galls appear as round swellings as large as golf balls on stems. The commonest goldenrod gall is made by the goldenrod gall fly. In spring, the female lays her eggs on the stem.

Gall fly outmaneuvers host plant in game of 'Spy vs Spy' Date: July 9, 2020 Source: Penn State Summary: Over time goldenrod plants and the gall flies that feed on them have been one-upping each ...

The pre-pupae stage of a goldenrod gall fly (Eurosta solidaginis) tucked into its gall. The flies use a special fat to survive freezing temperatures. A surprising discovery of antifreeze fat in ...

Ever see a goldenrod that swallowed a golf ball? A common sight in old fields, this applelike growth is the handiwork of the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis . The rotund reproductive ...

Have you ever noticed the bulbs that form on the stems of goldenrod? Believe it or not, those bulbs house the larvae of an insect called the goldenrod gall fly. This fly is completely dependent on the ...

Way back last summer, a tiny insect, a gall fly, climbed up the stem of a goldenrod and laid an egg. The plant responded to this violation by swelling up and forming a hard ball-shaped growth ...

The insect that did this is so attached to goldenrods that it is known as a goldenrod gall fly. Even the scientific name has solidago, the genus for goldenrod, as part of its label.

The goldenrod gall fly is a parasite whose entire life is centered on goldenrod: they live on goldenrod, mate on goldenrod, they even lay their eggs in the goldenrod stem which then becomes a fly ...

Goldenrods also attract many different gall-making insects. In the case of the goldenrod ball gall, a female fly lays her eggs in the stem in late spring or early summer.

The four sets of plants (128 total) were then randomized in a grid on a greenhouse bench, and the authors released adults of the goldenrod ball-gall-making fly, Eurosta solidaginis, amid the plants.

Over time goldenrod plants and the gall flies that feed on them have been one-upping each other in an ongoing competition for survival. Now, a team of researchers has discovered that by detecting ...