The Bloodwood Gall is found in South, North and Western Australia. The Bloodwood Gall grows on a Bloodwood Tree. A Bloodwood Gall, also referred to as a bush coconut, is a plant with a hard shell which has a grub inside that has no legs, wings or antennae. The grub is called a Coccid, who spends its life inside the gall sucking sap with only an air hole as its connection to the outside world. The Coccid is a yellow-green colour.The Gall consists of a dark, hard outer shell, and a white coconut-like flesh. The gall is normally the size of a tennis ball.It's scientific name is Cystococcus pomiformis.
STRUCTURAL Adaptations The Bloodwood gall has a dark outer shell to protect the Coccid inside. The female Coccid especially needs protection by the shell because she will reproduce her babies. There is also a small hole at the top of the gall, which is the Coccid's air hole, which keeps the Coccid alive.
BEHAVIOURAL Adaptations The Coccid sucks sap from the Bloodwood Tree’s veins to survive. The sap from the tree is the Coccid's source of food. The Coccid injects a chemical into the tree’s tissue, which causes the gall to grow from the tree. Another interesting fact about the Coccid is that the males are born first so that they can grow large enough to carry the females to different branches of the tree or nearby trees.
A threat to the survival of the Bloodwood Gall and Coccid is that the Bloodwood Tree's get cut down.