Although I was really certain of the identification of the Succulent Oak Gall, I still hadn't seen one actually on a tree. For some reason, these galls apparently all fall to the ground at some point in the cycle. Since I don't think I've ever seen these before this year, I have no personal knowledge bank on the topic.
The one reference I found that had photos showed the little balls attached to the undersides of white oak leaves. In the first picture I showed a couple of weeks ago, there is a little ball on a leaf, but is it attached? Or did it simply fall and land on a fallen leaf?
Since then, I've been hunting in the leaves above every patch of the galls I've found, but it appeared they had all fallen!
Finally, in Nordhouse last week, I did see a couple of balls that were still attached. But they were high in the tree, and the wind was blowing so that the leaves were in constant motion. The result is a picture that is good enough to prove how they are seen on the tree, but not in very good focus.
So there you have it. These seem to all be on white oak. Maybe some day I'll get a picture of the little wasp that causes it.
I'm going to bed. I think I've finally made it to tired enough to get to sleep early.
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4 comments:
Hope you slept well. I've not seen the gall on oak leaves. We used to have a maple tree whose leaves had quarter-inch long growths hanging beneath them. Each about the diameter of a pencil lead or slightly less.
It is my turn to go to bed now.
Chuck- That's something different. I think caused by a mite. Don't quote me.
rainfield- That's it! I just need to function in a different time zone.
Yes, I understand that's it's a different critter. It could be a mite, whatever it is must be smaller than the wasp.
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