Goldenrod gall fly
The goldenrod gall fly is a small fly that makes a plant build a house for its baby. Its larva makes the stem of a goldenrod plant swell up into a hard, round ball called a gall. The larva lives safe inside the ball all winter.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The larva can freeze in winter and still survive. Scientists study it to learn about natural antifreeze.
Before winter, the larva digs a little escape tunnel but leaves a thin wall at the end, so it can get out in spring.
Chickadees and woodpeckers peck open the big galls to eat the larva inside.
In spring the grown-up flies come out of the galls, and the boys come out before the girls.
The eggs hatch about 5 to 8 days after the mother lays them in the goldenrod buds.
Most asked questions about Goldenrod gall fly
?What is the ball on a goldenrod stem?
It is a gall made by the goldenrod gall fly. A little larva lives inside it.
?Does the gall hurt the goldenrod?
The plant keeps growing. The gall is a small swelling where the larva lives and eats.
?How does the larva survive the winter?
Its body can handle being frozen, so it survives even when the gall freezes.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Eurosta solidaginis
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Tephritidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Tephritidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Goldenrod ball gallmaker
Where the facts come from
- Goldenrod gall fly (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Beatriz Moisset. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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