Hello everyone! This year, the mossy galls of the Bedeguar gall wasp are particularly more common on Rosa sect. Caninae species when walking through nature. Often you can even find several on a single shrub. Perhaps the weather has had an influence. They are quite interesting and amusing to look at, so I took the opportunity to take a photo and share it with you.
It is believed that a secretion from the wasp triggers the growth of the tumor. The genetic processes involved, however, remain unexplored to date.
If you spot them on an own dog rose, simply remove the infested shoots to combat them.
Gall wasps don’t have any negative effect to the heath of a rose. Wasps are also very important to our eco systems as pollinators and as food source for birds and other animals. Parasitoid wasps in particular also don’t pose any threat to humans as they almost never sting. They’re solitary in nature and don’t have the aggressive hive mindset of hornets or yellowjackets, for example.
I would encourage you to reconsider the practice of killing them. It is a really beautiful thing as a gardener to coexist within nature and contribute to the health of your ecosystem.
