Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Cynipini

Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps. It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 60 genera and 1000 recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks. The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
640 w
Citations
16
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Cynipini
Cynips sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Cynipidae
Subfamily: Cynipinae
Tribe: Cynipini
Leach, 1815
Diversity
around 1000 species

Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae.1 They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps.2 It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 60 genera and 10002 recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks.2 The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic.3

Cynipini wasps can act as ecosystem engineers. Their galls can become hosts of inquilines, and the wasps themselves are hosts to parasitoids.4

Most of these wasps undergo cyclical parthenogenesis, sometimes reproducing sexually, and sometimes producing young without fertilization.2 5

Genera

Gall induced on Pyrenean oak Quercus pyrenaica by Andricus kollari source ↗
Gall induced by Callirhytis quercuspunctata on oak source ↗
Amphibolips quercusinanis gall on oak source ↗
References

References

  1. Nieves-Aldrey, J. L., et al. (2009). Revision and phylogenetics of the genus Paraulax Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae) with biological notes and description of a new tribe, a new genus, and five new species. Zootaxa 2200 1-40.
  2. Melika, G., et al. (2013). A new genus of oak gallwasp, Cyclocynips Melika, Tang & Sinclair (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), with descriptions of two new species from Taiwan. Zootaxa 3630(3), 534-48.
  3. Medianero, E. and J. L. Nieves-Aldrey. (2013). Barucynips panamensis, a new genus and species of oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini) from Panama, and description of one new species of Coffeikokkos. ZooKeys (277), 25-46.
  4. Hayward, Alex; Stone, Graham (2005-10-05). "Oak gall wasp communities: Evolution and ecology". Basic and Applied Ecology. 6 (5): 435–443. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2005.07.003.
  5. Stone, Graham N.; Schönrogge, Karsten; Atkinson, Rachel J.; Bellido, David; Pujade-Villar, Juli (January 2002). "The Population Biology of Oak Gall Wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)". Annual Review of Entomology. 47 (1): 633–668. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.47.091201.145247. PMID 11729087. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  6. Tang Chang-Ti; Nicholls, James; Melika, George; Buffington, Matthew L; Gates, Michael W; Lill, John T; Mapes, Carol C; Yang, Mian-Miao; Abe, Yoshihisa; Stone, Graham N. (2026). Confirmation, consequences and causes of extensive polyphyly in the oak gall wasp genus Dryocosmus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Insect Systematics & Diversity 10(2), ixag006.
  7. Pujade-Villar, J., et al. (2012). A new genus of oak gallwasp, Coffeikokkos Pujade-Villar & Melika, gen. n., with a description of a new species from Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae). Zookeys (168), 19–29.
  8. Cuesta-Porta, Victor; Melika, George; Nicholls, James A.; Stone, Graham N.; Pujade-Villar, Juli (2023-11-07). "Re-establishment of the Nearctic oak cynipid gall wasp genus Feron Kinsey, 1937 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), including the description of six new species". Zootaxa. 5366 (1): 1–174. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5366.1.1. hdl:20.500.11820/8d7cf66b-8011-4572-b520-b8f5d78deae2. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 38220731.
  9. Enrique Medianero; James A. Nicholls; Graham N. Stone; José Luis Nieves-Aldrey (10 December 2021). "A new genus of Neotropical oak gall wasp, Prokius Nieves-Aldrey, Medianero & Nicholls, gen. nov. (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), with description of two new species from Panama". Zootaxa. 5081 (2): 203–222. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5081.2.2. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 35391013. Wikidata Q110301856.
  10. García-Martiñón, Rosa D.; Equihua-Martínez, Amando; Venegas, Edith G. Estrada-; Melika, George; Romero-Rangel, Silvia; Cuesta-Porta, Víctor; Pujade-Villar, Juli (2024-07-24). "Reticulodermis lithogalla gen. nov. and sp. nov. of oak gall wasp from Mexico (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae)". Zootaxa. 5486 (1): 109–120. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5486.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 39646840.
  11. Cuesta-Porta, Victor; Arnedo, Miquel A.; Cibrian-Tovar, David; Barrera-Ruiz, Uriel M.; Garcia-Martinon, Rosa D.; Equihua-Martinez, Armando; Estrada-Venegas, Edith; Clark-Tapia, Ricardo; Romero-Rangel, Silvia; Pujade-Villar, Juli (2020). "A new genus of oak gall wasp, Striatoandricus Pujade-Villar (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) from America with descriptions of two new Mexican species". Zoological Studies. 59 (59): e8. doi:10.6620/ZS.2020.59-08. PMC 7396930. PMID 32760454.