gall wasp

American  

noun

1. any wasp of the family Cynipidae, the larvae of which form characteristic galls on plants.

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gall wasp British  

noun

1. any small solitary wasp of the family Cynipidae and related families that produces galls in plant tissue, which provide shelter and food for the larvae

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Etymology

Origin of gall wasp

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Parasitoid wasps’ extreme specializations make them excellent pest managers; in Hawaii, the parasitoid wasp Eurytoma erythrinae has significantly reduced the populations of a gall wasp that threatened the native wiliwili tree.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2022

“Each gall wasp is attacked by between 10 and 25 different species of parasites.”

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2022

In this context, modern means a different formula of gall wasp husks and iron sulfite that’s only about 1,300 years old.

From Washington Times • Aug. 5, 2017

But once he got started, it was the gall wasp all over again.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oak galls produced by the egg of an insect,—the female gall wasp.

From Vegetable Dyes Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer by Mairet, Ethel M.