フィールド日記

ススキ野原の入り口でガマズミミケフシが見られます。ガマズミミケフシとは、タマバエの一種がガマズミの実に寄生することで生じる虫こぶのことです。写真の左の赤い果実が正常なガマズミの果実ですが、タマバエが卵を産むことで組織が変化し、丸く毛におおわれた虫こぶになります。

I found "Gamazumi-Mikefushi (ガマズミミケフシ)" at the entrance of the Japanese pampas grass field. "Gamazumi-Mikefusi" is a gall produced by a gall midge that is parasitizing in the fruit of "Gamazumi (ガマズミ)" trees. The normal "Gamazumi" fruit is red as you can see on the left side of the photo. However, after a gall midge lays its eggs on the fruit, the tissue changes and the fruit turns round and hairy.