Aceria cephalonea

Aceria cephalonea

Description

The mite Aceria cephalonea causes small red pouch galls on the upper surface of Sycamore leaves. When fullty developed in summer, the galls are less than 3mm high with a rounded apex. 

Similar Species

Aceria macrorhyncha on Sycamore and Aceria myriadeum on Field Maple

Identification difficulty

Gall Adult

Recording advice

Some indication of the size of the gall is needed.  The host plant must be specified in the comments box - e.g. "Galls on Sycamore, 5-6mm high".  In Spring and early Summer, before fully developed, these galls may be indistinguishable from Aceria macrorhyncha galls and should therefore be recorded as the species aggregate Aceria cephalonea agg. 

Habitat

On Sycamore

When to see it

From Spring to Autumn

UK Status

Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain.

VC55 Status

common

Further Information

See Buckton, S.J (2023) Lessons from verifying Yorkshire galls and gall-causers on iRecord  Cecidology 37 (1) 28-40

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records