Parasitic gall wasps don't get out much. For the vast majority of their year-long lives, from eggs to larvae, pupae to adults, these tiny insects are entombed in cocoon-like crypts on the leaves, flowers, and stems of oak trees.
When spring rolls around, there's no time to waste, not even for food. The wasps have just days to mate and lay eggs before they die.
So far, there are more than 1,000 identified species of gall wasps around the world, and thanks to the creatures' extreme hermitism and short lifespan, we are still finding more, including the latest addition. , was actually looking for another gall wasp species known to live in that very tree. But a closer look suggested some of the wasp's legs were a slightly different color than they should be.
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