What are these tiny, fuzzy cocoons?

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BHLovell Augusta, GA Nov 03, 2010

My 4-year-old daughter has been on a quest to find a wooly bear caterpillar with no luck so far, but a few days ago she found hundreds of these tiny, fuzzy tannish cocoons attached to leaves lying all over the ground. Some of the leaves have more than one coccoon and some are larger than others. They were found in Louisiana in the New Orleans area. I have been searching and searching online trying to find out what these things will hatch into, but the closest I've come is finding the attached picture with no information attached. We've got about 30 in a 10 gallon aquarium and my daughter is anxiously watching for something to emerge, but I'm a little afraid of what might come out!

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Nov 03, 2010

These are not cocoons, but galls caused by tiny wasps. When the female wasp lays her eggs in the leaf tissue, she also injects a substance that causes the leaf cells to proliferate in an odd fashion, creating a structure in which the wasp larvae develop. There are a huge number of wasps that have this habit, each with its own characteristic gall.

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hemlady Melvindale, MI(Zone 5a) Nov 06, 2010

I hope BHLovell comes back to this thread and sees this id.

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