#oak apples

[seabeck]

Oak apples

[futurebird]

The Glorious Complexity and Mysteries of Galls, Wasps, Ants, and Aphids

Plant galls are structures of plant tissue that grow in response to the actions of arthropods, bacteria or fungi. These living things hijack the plant and "make" it grow something they find useful.

An "oak apple" type gall created by a parasitic wasp by laying an egg in the leaf as it was growing.

The shapes and structures of galls vary wildly, and often have no obvious correspondence to any of the other parts of the plant. (If you you have a strong trypophobia response be careful googling images of galls some make my crawl, others are etherial)

Some galls seem to be optimized to foil parasitoids who try to lay their eggs inside the pupae of other insects. A wasp would need a very long ovipositor to get to this larva suspended in the center! Somehow the wasp egg induces the tree to grow this complex structure! Amazing!

Although ants are closely related to wasps who play a large roll in the formation of plant galls, ants are *normally* only secondary fauna of galls and not gallmakers.

This is surprising to me since so many plants roll out a welcome mat for ants: extrafloral nectaries as cafeterias, hollow stems& thorns as dormitories. A resident colony of ants can be a plants personal private security detail.

For all the many symbiotic parings of ants and plants there are only a few ants that induce their own galls. As secondary fauna of galls (often created by their creepy cousins, the parasitoid wasps) ants may also act as pest control.

This raises the question: Could plants "allow" gall wasps to make these otherwise energy intensive and potentially harmful structures in hopes of attracting ants as secondary guests? It's a complex web of ecological relationships! Read more here.

Another potential player in this story of galls and wasps and ants are aphids. Aphids are the other main insect that can induce galls. The aphids live in these galls for generations (they don't live long so this is only several months) Of course, ants are famous farmers of aphids.

(Some gallmaking wasps get attacked by hyper parasitoid wasps who only lay their eggs in other gall wasps galls. To prevent this some gallmakers make the galls attractive to ants... who can deter the invaders.)

Glorious Complexity!

[lailoken]

Yesterday, we decided to go to the Oak Tree Lord for help with finding some particular botanic materials I needed. We made our way to the hollow of a glorious Oak Tree—an ally we were lucky enough to stumble upon a while back—and fed offerings into the Arboreal Crypt.

Within minutes of our propitiation, we discovered a cache of Oak Galls (also called Oak Apples.) While they weren’t included in the plant materials I was looking for, they were a lovely token of acceptance regarding our entreaty, and I hope to incorporate them into a Craft ink, if I’m able.

What’s more, though, shortly after making our offering, we found a footpath which not only took us to a specimen of the plants I was searching for, but to an entire field of them.

In short, earnest propitiation is extremely important.

[natureisnurturenet]

Oak Apples (or Oak Galls)

Oak Apples (or Oak Galls)

Navigating this 2020 pandemic, I have made a point to get outside and walk in my neighborhood every day. Nature always brings a balance in life, I believe, and this is my way of balancing out the uncertainty we are all experiencing right now.

I began walking in mid March, and almost every day I have come across an interesting plant and/or animal. I have been diligent in taking my cell phone…

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[joqatana]

Morning walk

[barberwitch]

Lichen, moss, and oak galls. The spoils of my morning here in the forest above the ocean. So much witchcraft in store.

[theglasspingle]

‘Oak apples’ by Anna Airy, found here

[seabeck]

Oh the gall...