A single female was reared from a Periclistus-modified gall of Diplolepis oregonensis (Beutenmüller, 1918) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on Rosa nutkana C. Presl. hand-collected in February, 2017. Galls were collected by visually searching R. nutkana stands, taken to the lab, and held at room temperature until insects emerged. Galls were checked several times a week and insects were pinned or transferred to vials of 70% EtOH as they emerged. This specimen emerged from a smooth, spherical gall, measuring about 15 mm in diameter and attached to the stem near the point of the spine node (Fig. 1). The adult emerged from the gall, at the point farthest from the stem, on 1–2 March, 2017. The emergence hole measured 1.5 mm in diameter and led to a gallery about 5 mm in length. At the end of the gallery was the discarded pupal case of the sawfly. The gallery does not lead into the center of the gall, and there was no evidence of feeding activity in the gall, suggesting that the gall may only have served as an overwintering site. Two specimens of Periclistus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) also emerged from the gall.

Figure 1. 

Periclistus-modified gall of Diplolepis oregonensis (A), dissected to reveal the pupal chamber of Monardis pulla (B).

Figure 2. 

Diplolepis rosae gall (A), and dissected stem showing feeding damage of Aphilodyctium fidum (B).

United States; 1♀; Oregon, Lane County, 10 km N of Corvallis; 44°38.66'N, 122°19.39'W; 12 Feb. 2017, em. 1–2 Mar. 2017; C. Looney & R. Chappel leg.; ex: Rosa nutkana.

One male A. fidum was reared from a stem of Rosa rubiginosa Linnaeus, 1758, hand-collected in March 2018 and connected to a Diplolepis rosae (Linnaeus, 1758) gall measuring about 29 mm in diameter. The gall was from a previous season, and all gall wasps and the associated component community had already emerged. The sawfly emerged from the apex of the cut stem, leaving a hole that measured about 3.5 mm in diameter leading to a frass-filled gallery through the stem pith, about 23 mm in length. The discarded larval skin of the sawfly was discovered at the end of this gallery, as well as a partial adult head and some exoskeletal remnants of a different unidentified hymenopteran.

One male A. fidum was reared from a gall of D. rosae also collected from R. rubiginosa. The gall was collected in the fall and stored at 0 °C for 90 days to simulate overwintering conditions (Williams et al. 2003). After this the gall was transferred to room temperature to allow insects to emerge. Galls were checked several times a week, with insects pinned or transferred to vials of 70% EtOH as they emerged. This gall was not retained, but was instead dissected as part of a different research project. It therefore isn’t clear if the insect was feeding within the gall or if, like the M. pulla specimen from Oregon, it was feeding or overwintering in other associated plant tissue.

United States; 1♂; Washington, Clark County, Port of Vancouver; 45°38.60'N, 122°42.33'W; Mar. 2018, em. unknown; C. Looney leg.; ex: Rosa rubiginosa. United States; 1♂; Idaho, Ada County, Boise; 43°34.36'N, 116°8.78'W; 26 Dec. 2006, em. Feb. 2007; E. Poor leg.; ex: Rosa rubiginosa.

During a Bioblitz on property adjacent to the North Cascades National Park, what were thought to be insect mines were observed on four individual Castilleja sp. near the Stehekin Landing Strip. No damage was observed other than the putative mines on any of the plants nearby. Leaves from two plants were collected and taken to the lab in Olympia, WA, in hopes of rearing the associated insects. Upon examination in the lab we determined that the supposed mines were actually small groups of insect eggs (Fig. 3), from which multiple sawfly larvae hatched on 23 and 24 May, 2016. The first instar sawfly larvae did not commence feeding upon their natal leaves, instead began crawling about the container. The larvae were provided with fresh C. levisecta Greenm. leaves from surplus greenhouse material provided by the Center for Natural Lands Management, in Olympia, WA. None of the larvae fed upon these leaves, and all died within a few days after emerging. DNA was extracted from two larvae, and the COI “barcode” region was sequenced and compared with data in the Barcode of Life Data System and on Genbank. DNA from one of the larvae was successfully amplified and sequenced, and was a 99.85% match with three sequences of R. lateraria from adult specimens identified by D.R. Smith, all collected from Washington State. The sequence derived from the larvae was submitted to GenBank (accession number MN545964).

Figure 3. 

Rhogogaster lateraria eggs in Castilleja sp. leaf.

United States; 9 1^st instar larvae; Washington, Chelan County, Stehekin State Airport, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area; 48°20.86'N, 120°43.38'W; 20 May 2016, em. 23–23 May 2016; C. Looney leg.; ex: Castilleja sp.