Leaf Gall Mite on Hackberry
Aceria ?
Observed in th Bradshaw Mountains, Yavapai Co., Arizona, USA. 4 May 2015. Host plant is Net-leaf Hackberry, Celtis laevigata reticulata where the finger-like galls are located on the veins on the underside of the leaf.
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Hundreds of kinds of galls, each a different shape, size, location and color, can be found on plants growing within the sycamore woodlands in canyons of Arizona. Each gall type and plant species combination are caused by a different organism interacting with the host plant. The galls here look appear similar to the finger-galls on elm, a botanical relative of hackberry. They are very small and can be seen only in fresh galls that are carefully opened and examined with high magnification - 15x minimum. The colony within the gall was initiated by a mated female mite while the leaf was just emerging from the bud. Several generations and possibly many dozens of mites are now contained within each gall.