D3135: Connecting generations and finding new putative species in oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)

Within North America there are ~200 oak tree species, and >700 oak gall wasp species that induce galls on various oak tree tissues.  Most oak gall have alternating sexual and asexual generations, which induce galls and adult gall wasps of different morphologies.  Many galls of one or both generations are understudied to the extent that often only one generation is described.  In other cases, both generations may be described as distinct species.  Through a nationwide collaborative collector effort facilitated via the website Gallformers.org, we are dissecting larvae from many hundreds of gall types, sequencing a DNA barcode from each larva, and through this method completing previously unknown gall wasp life histories.  Beyond seeking basic natural history knowledge, finding these missing connections is vital to understanding other compelling questions in the oak gall wasp system including their evolutionary relationships with one another and with their various insect parasites.