#Oak gall wasp

[crudlynaturephotos]

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Okay, so this is really cool! You have this phenomenon where some plants grow edible appendages to their seeds to entice ants to carry them underground where they can safely sprout. And then you have wasps which lay their eggs on the leaves, stems, and other parts of plants and trigger the growth of galls (swellings) which both feed and protect the wasp larvae until they reach maturity.

The boy who was watching the ants noticed they were taking wasp galls underground, too. Further exploration found that the wasp larvae were unharmed inside the galls; the only thing the ants had eaten were edible appendages similar to those on the seeds they collected. The wasp larvae stayed safe inside the ant nest, feeding on their galls, until it was time to emerge and head back out to the surface.

So it turns out that the edible portions of the galls have the same sorts of fatty acids as the edible parts of the seeds. And those fatty acids are also found in dead insects. Scientists think that the wasps evolved a way to make the galls they created mimic the edible portions of the seeds to get the ants to collect the galls. This isn't the only example of wasps making use of ants as caretakers for their young, but it's a really fascinating example thereof--especially if you consider ants evolved from wasps at least 100 million years ago.

[keeskiwi]

Happy gall week!! Here's a painting I forgot to put online anywhere

[wild-e-eep]

Some beautiful, fresh oak marbles. These are the creations of a gall wasp - Andricus kollari.

[onenicebugperday]

Oak apple gall wasp, Biorhiza pallida, Cynipidae, Hymenoptera

Pictured is a female oak apple gall wasp and the apple-like galls that form around her larvae in oak trees. This species is found throughout Europe. In addition to feeding and sheltering the oak apple gall wasp larvae, the galls house several other species of gall wasp and at least 20 species of hyperparasitoids that feed on the larvae.

Photos 1-3 by zmrdk, 4 by bclunie, and 5 by cedzz

[rinibayphoto]

[alcnfr]

An Oak Gall Wasp's galls (Andricus weldi), they lack a common name it seems...

[lifebuoyjournals]

Interesting new discovery!!

Oak wasps lay eggs on oak tree leaves. This stimulates the oak tree to form a gall around the egg. The gall eventually falls off (with the eggs inside) and are harvested by ants. These ants harvest galls because gall caps contain nutritious fatty acids. The ants bring galls back to their nest, take up the gall caps, and leave the remainder of the gall in their nest, thus protecting the egg from predators.

[stopandlook]

Scientific Name: Amphibolips confluenta Common Name(s): Spongy oak apple gall wasp Family: Cynipidae (gall wasp) Life Stage(s): Larva Location: Plano, Texas Season(s): Winter

This is what one of these looks like on the inside.

[beanbowlbaggins]

red cone gall wasps on valley oaks from my walk ~

[greencheekconure27]

[lost-harts]

August 2021

[rebeccathenaturalist]

It’s Tell a Friend Friday!

Please enjoy this photo I took of a an oak leaf featuring a very fuzzy gall made--unsurprisingly--by an oak gall wasp! the female wasp lays an egg in the leaf of an oak tree, which triggers the growth of the gall. The wasp larvae can then live inside the gall feed on it until they are ready to emerge as adults.

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[historysurvivalguide]

Good Summer for Oak Galls!

(Oak Marble Gall Wasp Photographed Summer 2023)

Oak Marble Galls are about the size of a marble and look a bit like an acorn without a cap (and growing on a branch)

Oak Galls are sometimes also called “Gall Apples” because it can resemble an apple-like structure on the branch

(Spongy Oak Apple Gall Wasp Photographed in Summer 2023)

This Spongy Oak Gall is about an inch or two wide (about the size of a small tomato)

Galls can grow on the underside of leaves or the branches of oak trees and depending on the species can range in appearances

Used traditionally to make permanent black ink!

[crudlynaturephotos]

[honeycomb-butch]

California galls, they’re undeniable, Round plant growths, created by wasps. Quercus[1] represent, now put your wings up. Ooh oh ooh, ooh oh ooh.

You could travel the world, But nothing comes close to the Andricus[2], Once you’re forming a gall, you’ll be falling in love. Ooh oh ooh, ooh oh ooh.

[1] Oak genus that the California gall wasps induce galls in [2] Califonia gall wasps are Andricus quercuscalifornicus