Chilaspis israeli Sternlicht 1968

Chilaspis israeli Sternlicht, 1968

Host plants. Israel: Q. ithaburensis. Elsewhere: Q. brantii, Q. castaneifolia, Q. libani.

Life history. The sexual generation induces big and hairy, multi-chambered catkin galls, 20–40 mm in diameter (Fig. 45), composed of small triangular subunits that are densely covered by long hairs. Each unit contains one very rigid larval chamber that is attached to the catkin petiole. When young, the hairs are whitish to pinkish, turning golden-brown when mature. The asexual generation induces detachable, spherical leaf galls, up to 10 mm in diameter, which are often alined on the underside of the leaf and are single chambered (Fig. 59). Young galls are tiny and covered by black fuzz, turning green and hard when mature. They then drop from the leaves, turning brown with a velvety cover after a few days on the ground, and the larvae diapause in them for 4–10 months.

Phenology. Galls of the sexual generation begin to develop in February and adults emerge from them in late February to early March or in April in the Golan Heights. Galls of the asexual generation begin to develop in September and mature in December. Some of the larvae pupate and emerge as adults in February-March of the following year, whereas others remain in diapause and emerge only in October.

Distribution. Israel: Throughout the distribution range of Q. ithaburensis. Elsewhere: Lebanon, Jordan, Iran.

Comments. Sternlicht (1968b) described Chilaspis israeli (his Figs 49, 57) as a subspecies of Chilaspis nitida Giraud, which was later recognized as a distinct species by Pujade-Villar et al. (2003b). Galls of both generations are very similar to those of C. nitida in Europe but are bigger (up to 10 mm in diameter compared to 5 mm in C. nitida), and the two species are geographically separated, with C. israeli restricted to several oak species in the Levant and Iran and C. nitida to Q. cerris in Europe.