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How to identify it
- Galls are club- or spindle-shaped swellings, usually about 1/2 to 1 inch long but up to 2 inches, at the tips or along the stems of dogwood twigs.[1][3]
- Each gall has a central cavity holding from 1 to 39 maggots, which leave in autumn through small round holes chewed in the sides.[1]
- Infested trees can carry 30 to 120 galls, and the twig beyond a gall may die.[1]
Where it lives
Dogwood is its only host; the galls are described from North Carolina, Virginia and Connecticut landscapes.[1][2][3]
Biology and life cycle
Adults are tiny flies that emerge in spring, around June in Connecticut, as new dogwood growth begins.[1][3]
Females lay eggs in the tiny terminal leaves just as the buds open; the maggots' feeding makes a tough gall swell up around them.[2][1]
Maggots develop inside the gall until late summer and leave it in autumn.[1]
Damage and signs
- Twigs beyond a gall may die, and heavily galled trees can be deformed.[1]
Health risk
It feeds only on dogwood; NC State, Virginia Extension and the Connecticut station mention no risk to people.[1][2][3]
Control
Traps and physical control
Prune out and destroy galled twigs during the growing season, before the maggots leave in autumn, to limit next year's population.[3][1]
Pesticides
Once a gall has formed, pesticides can't reach the maggots inside.[1]
Common questions
- What are the swollen tips on my dogwood twigs?
- Likely dogwood clubgall midge galls, club- or spindle-shaped swellings with midge maggots feeding inside.[1][3]
- Can I spray to kill dogwood club galls?
- Not once they've formed; the maggots are protected inside. Prune and destroy the galled twigs instead.[1][3]
Sources
- NC State Extension, “Dogwood Clubgall Midge.” content.ces.ncsu.edu/dogwood-clubgall-midge (accessed 2026-10-19)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, “Gall-making insects and mites, ENTO-506.” pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-146/ENTO-146.html (accessed 2026-10-19)
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, “Plant Pest Handbook: Dogwood (Cornus).” portal.ct.gov/caes/home/plant-pest-handbook/pphd/dogwood-cornus (accessed 2026-10-19)
- iNaturalist, “Resseliella clavula taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/538154 (accessed 2026-10-06)