More Oak Apples!

  Maybe I am just more observant now than when I was younger but I never noticed the galls hanging on oak limbs when I was a kid.  In fact, I never noticed them until a few years ago.  After Hurricane Zeta slammed us, thousands of "wooden" balls littered the ground.  They were not only here but everywhere.  Folks all over the Coast were finding these odd balls and were wondering what they were.  The balls were about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, perfectly round and were firmly attached to oak twigs.  At the time, I figured they were a type of gall housing a critter larva but was not sure just what.  Researching led me to find that the galls are often called oak apples because of their appearance and they do, indeed, house a larva.  These balls are created to protect the larvae of an oak gall wasp.  The wasp, as an adult, is a wee thing that most people would view as a "gnat" or "fruit fly".  It is neither.  It is a true wasp.  That wasp spends most of its life inside the gall.  It only comes out for a few weeks to mate and lay eggs so the cycle can repeat.  Once we figured out just what the balls were, they were promptly forgotten and cleanup after the storm continued.

  A quick hike around the hillside today was invigorating.  There was a slight misty rain and the winds were chilly.  At one point, my leather moccasin rolled slightly to one side as if I had stepped on a stone.  Nope.  It was not a stone at all.  I had stepped on an oak apple!  I picked it up and was amazed at the sturdiness even after being on the ground for quite some time.  Then I realized dozens of the galls were on the ground!  Pondering this, it suddenly came to me that the squirrels were lining their nests with the small, leafy twigs from the oak trees.  Obviously, as the squirrels were gnawing on the branches, the galls were tumbling to the ground.  A few had the telltale pinholes where the gall wasp had emerged but most were still intact.  

  Folks, if you see these oak apples dangling from the twigs in your oak trees, do not despair.  The wasp larvae do not harm the tree whatsoever and the adult wasps have no inclination to sting.  Leave them be and make up some grand tale to explain your ability to grow apples on your oak trees!  I have a grand one stirring around in my brain to befuddle visitors to the Bayou!

Let The Critter Live!

   We are still trudging along with the cleanup from Hurricane Zeta.  It is a time consuming task and now even burning in the covered burn bins is out.  Things are too dry and the winds have shifted from the south so I will not risk it. The marsh debris will just have to stay as ten foot tall mountains in the front yard.  (So far we have 8 of these mountains with no end in sight of how many will yet be piled as we search for salvageable lumber.  Hopefully, we can get most up before another storm appears in the Gulf.  Exhausted...purely exhausted.  

  While dragging the planks to be stacked, Son and I have been noticing some strange "balls" on the ground.  These are sort of dried, papery like thing about half the size of a golf ball.  Most of them have a single leaf protruding from (what I think is) the top.  There was some discussion as to what these things were.  I figured they were just another type of gall wasp creations but did not know the name.  Well, I was correct in thinking that a tiny larva lived inside.  Son cut several open to reveal our critter!  

  These are indeed a type of gall wasp larva home.  Much like the small, round blobs on the leaves of the oak trees, these house a wasp.  Often called "oak apples" they appear as green balls in the spring and gradually turn brown over the summer.  The female wasp lays a single egg on the branch and enzymes on the egg cause the tree to "grow" the gall around it.  The egg hatches and the larva dines upon the interior of the gall. Eventually, (when the larva matures) it will drill a tiny exit hole in the ball and emerge as a wasp.  These balls do not hurt the tree at all and really should not be viewed with disdain.  Let the little wasp be! It is no threat to you nor your oak tree!  Let the little critter live.