clarkia11's Identifications

Red Cone Gall Wasp (Andricus kingi) on the leaf of a Valley Oak (Quercus lobata). Photographed along the Arrowhead Trail at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, near San Jose, CA. This photograph shows the characteristic gall that this species of cypinid wasp makes; it is a dainty little thing, reddish and shaped like a miniature Hershey's kiss. This particular Valley Oak had hundreds of these galls on its leaves, but they were generally hard to photograph because the wind was blowing them around a bit. This is one of the few pictures of these galls that didn't turn out blurry.

Found in garden squash flowers. Glossa (tongue) inserted into gaps at base of structures inside both staminate (male) and carpellate (female) squash flowers. These bees observed moving from bottom of flower to sunny upper petals and opening and closing mouth parts perhaps to condense nectar.