Plant Gall Society Gall of the Week : Aceria tenella on Hornbeam

I don't look at Twitter very much these days, so have been missing tweets from the British Plant Gall Society (BPGS). However, I saw this one the other day: Gall of the week is that of the mite Aceria tenella on hornbeam Carpinus betulus. Can be looked for now. Photo by Graham Calow.A reminder that not all galls are spectacular and colourful! pic.twitter.com/uURpqTdpvq— British Plant Galls (@britgalls) May 9, 2024 This gall appeared relatively recently in my local patch on Hornbeams planted around 25 years ago. The only other location I know around Nottingham is Martins Pond, Wollaton. As with many galls caused by mites in leaves these appear more or less as soon as the leaves open. Mites overwinter under bud scales and move onto the leaves immediately. There are Lime leaves opening now which are distorted by galls of Eriophyes exilis in the leaf axils. Although the galls are often there, they can initially be hard to find: red galls such as the Sycamore Cherry mite often are green...