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Galls???eggs on bur oak leaf?????
HI,
I just took a photo of these bug eggs???? on the leaves of our bur oak tree today (Sept 22, 2008) . The eggs are hard (so my husband say’s I couldn’t get up the nerve to touch them). So it’s the beginning of fall here in Iowa. I was wondering if you could identify the egg for us. Our son who’s 4 spotted them on the tree. There are only a few leaves with the clusters. After trying to identify these in a few books and the help of your web site our 4 year old said why don’t you ask that cool web site we go to….so here I am asking for help.
Thanks so much for your time.
The Sims Family
Des Moines, Iowa
Oak Leaf Gall
Dear Sims Family,
Though they might look like eggs, they are actually Galls. Galls are growths on plants caused by insects, mites or other creatures. We believe your Galls are Amphibolips coelebs and they are caused by a tiny Gall Wasp. We identified them thanks to a wonderful old research book written by Frank E. Lutz, but we couldn’t find an image online. Galls don’t generally cause the plants any harm. In the case of the Gall Wasps, the growth creates a food source for the developing larva.
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