Leaders: Ian Farmer & Tom Higginbottom

Holmes Carr Great Wood is a large woodland which borders the edge of Rossington and  what would have been the Rossington Main Colliery coal tip. There were many mature Pedunculate Oaks which were host to a number of galls. The most exciting galls were found in the more open parkland before we entered the wood. On the underside of an Oak-leaf we discovered 5 examples of the rare gall Cynips longiventris, the Striped Pea Gall.  A distinctive gall but one which is not frequently recorded.

In the wood we also found examples of Cynips divisa. Ian Farmer checked by pressing the galls, there is no doubt it was C. divisa the gall which is thick walled, whereas C. agama, similar looking gall is thin walled and collapses when pressed.

The wide-open pathways led to the discovery of galls on herbaceous plants.  The wasp Liposthenes glechomae causing galls on the buds of Ground Ivy.

After lunch we decided to investigate another nearby woodland, Hurst Plantation. We were fortunate to have the knowledgeable expert Jim Burnett to lead us through the woodland and ponds, remaining from sand and gravel extraction.

 The most significant discovery was an  old example of Andricus lucidus,  often referred to as the hedgehog gall,  a gall wasp rarely seen in the north.

Alder was common beside the ponds and host to the common mite galls Eriophyes inangulis  forming  pimples along the main vein of the leaf and E. laevis forming pimples all over the leaf. Slopes near the ponds were covered in  yellow Evening Primrose.

The most significant galls were discovered towards the end of our meeting. Jim had indicated that in 2022  a large part of the woodland had been burnt by an extensive fire. Many conifers and remaining Birch trees were silhouettes with  Bracken covering the understory.  But in the last part of the woodland not far from the car park,  Rosebay Willowherb was the dominant plant growing beneath the silhouettes of burnt trees. It has been often described as Fireweed. In our searches for galls Ian Farmer found the  leaf roll formed by the midge,  Dasineura kiefferiana and the even more unusual swelling of the stem formed by a moth, Mompha sturnipennella.

Tom Higginbottom

Holmes Carr Great Wood, Rossington (2024)

HOST PLANT	COMMON NAME	GALL INDUCER	COMMON NAME
SK 608976
Acer campestre	Field Maple	Aceria macrochela	Mite
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet	Dasineura pustulans	Midge
Galium aparine	Cleavers	Dasineura aparines	Midge
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed	Macrolabis heraclei	Midge
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn	Eriophyes similis	Mite
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken	Dasineura pteridis	Midge
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Cynips longiventris	Wasp
Rubus sp.	Bramble	Dasineura plicatrix	Midge
Uritca dioica	Common Nettle	Dasineura urticae	Midge
SK 607977
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	Acalitus brevitarsus	Mite
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	Eriophyes inangulis	Mite
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	Eriophyes laevis	Mite
Corylus avellana	Hazel	Phytoptus avellanae	Mite
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	Phyllocoptes goniothorax	Mite
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	Psyllopsis fraxini	Psyllid
Glechoma hederacea	Ground-ivy	Liposthenes glechomae	Wasp
Prunus sp		Phyllocoptes eupadi	Mite
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn	Eriophyes similis	Mite
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn	Eriophyes homophyllus	Mite
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus lignicolus	Wasp
Rubus sp.	Bramble	Dasineura plicatrix	Midge
SK605976
Cirsium arvense	Pedunculate Oak	Puccinia punctiformis	Fungus
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus aries	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus foecundatrix	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus lignicolus	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus quercuscorticis	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Cynips divisa	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Macrodiplosis roboris	Midge
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Neuroterus numismalis	Wasp
Salix alba	White Willow	Euura proxima	Sawfly
Salix caprea	Goat Willow	Melampsora caprearum	Fungus
Salix caprea	Goat Willow	Euura pedunculi	Sawfly
Tilia sp.	Lime	Eriophyes tiliae	Mite
Tilia sp.	Lime	Eriophyes exilis	Mite
Uritca dioica	Common Nettle	Dasineura urticae	Midge
Hurst Plantation
SK637985
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	Aceria cephalonea	Mite
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	Aceria pseudoplatani	Mite
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus aries	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus lignicolus	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus lucidus	Wasp
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak	Andricus solitarius	Wasp
Rubus sp	Bramble	Dasineura plicatrix	Midge
SK636989
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	Eriophyes inangulis	Mite
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	Eriophyes laevis	Mite
Salix caprea	Goat Willow	Euura pedunculi	Sawfly
Sambucus nigra	Elder	Epitrimerus trilobus	Mite
SK639988
Chamerion angustifolium	Rosebay Willowherb	Dasineura kiefferiana	Midge
Chamerion angustifolium	Rosebay Willowherb	Mompha sturnipennella	Moth
Quercus cerris	Turkey oak (catkins)	Andricus grossulariae	Wasp