#oak galls

[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.

#wasps #ants #plants #galls #oak galls #insects #invertebrates #Hymenoptera #ecology #bugs #animals #wildlife #nature #trees #entomology #science #natural science #evolution #animal behavior

[monstera-tea]

making oak gall ink!!

It has been a party and also the least arthritis friendly experience if i didnt have carpal tunnel already i def do now

later ill post how it turns out and link the article im using!

#Oak galls #foraging #traditional art #artists on tumblr #if i didnt do something creative today i was going to explode #Whenever the horrors come for you just make ink about it #Ink #natural ink #botany

[futurebird]

The nerve! The Gall!

Oak trees have got to be pissed about galls.

Galled if you will.

"I made an apple for a wasp? I'm not even a fruit tree--And it didn't even help me grow any new oak trees? no seeds? Just a wasp house? Why would I do that???

And now some monkeys are mashing it up to make marks on... on OMG. Is that pressed pulped *flesh* ?

No, not that sheep skin one... that other one... was that... dear Edna?"

#trees #horror for trees #galls #plant galls #oak galls #oak apples #gall ink

[lunatheboingseater]

I drew Kyle Broflovski as a digital drawing starter:3

#kyle broflovski #south park #cryle #style #k2 #comfort character #kinnie #:3 #x3 #xd #:d #:p #<3 #yay #oak galls #coems #^^ #> <

[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!

#iron gall ink #oak galls #gall ink #black ink #diy ink #gall wasp #insects #Oak Marble Gall Wasp #Spongy Oak Apple Gall Wasp #entomology

[strangeritual-blog]

#oak galls #natural history #nature

[dancingbugs]

I made an Oak crown out of galls, leaves and acorn tops.

#oak crown #oak #oak art #assemblage #nature crown #oak galls #crown

[solomonsattic]

A handful of photos from Fulcrum Arts 2022 Fulcrum Festival: Deep Ocean/Deep Space program at Sidestreet Projects. The Water+Color Skill Share workshop featured hands-on explorations of pigments and dyestuffs collected from waterways across L.A County. 

Photo credit: Christopher Wormald. Provided courtesy of Fulcrum Arts. Instagram: @Christopher.s.w and @fulcrumarts

#sidestreetprojects #fulcrumarts #inkmaking #watercolors #oak galls

[dalavidaalaropa]

Experimental Linocut Print with Oak Gall and Acorn Cap homemade ink. ridley creek rock, 2022. Info below

Still figuring out how to work with my foraged inks and pigments-- a little bummed bc I added way too much agar to the base and it thickened up grainy (I promise I mixed it and Then Heated and Then Cooled!). To make it useable with a brayer I added several tbsp of gum arabic to help disperse the pigments more evenly across the brayer. still a very wet process, but as I played around I found that the grain and variability is more exciting to me than getting a clear print or an even layer on the brayer. Edition of 7.

#foraging #foraged ink #homemade ink #linocut #linoprint #blockprint #relief print #printmaking #experimental #natural inks #oak gall ink #oak galls #acorn cap ink #jason logan make ink

[bumblebeeappletree]

If you are lucky enough to find oak galls while foraging, grab a handful for your dye pot! The oak gall is full of tannin and is a great way to pretreat your textiles, especially plant (cellulose) fibers like cotton, linen, bamboo and hemp, to create stronger color bonds with natural dyes. The 'mordant' process is an extra, but important, step to help organic color last longer and protect it from fading with exposure to light and wash. Oak galls are a great option because they leave very little color on the fiber, but pack a tannin punch. You can also create beautiful grays using an iron water modifier with oak gall tannin. This video tutorial will show you how to treat fiber with oak gall tannin as a mordant, test it with hibiscus dye and shift colors to a full spectrum of light and bluish grays with iron. We will also test oak gall and hibiscus dye on wooden beads to add color to earthy handmade jewelry.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction - Oak gall

2:11 Oak gall tannin mordant

3:55 Tannin + iron

5:08 What exactly is an oak gall?

6:10 Tutorial highlights

7:25 How to make an oak gall tannin mordant - cold & hot soak

9:21 How to make hibiscus dye

9:49 How to dye wooden beads - oak gall tannin, hibiscus & iron

12:34 How shift color with iron water

14:04 Fiber swatch & wooden bead results

15:58 Recap

20:41 Sneak peek of next tutorial

21:34 Blooper

SUPPLY LIST

Oak gall - whole or ground

Hibiscus flowers - dried

Iron powder and/or homemade iron rust water

Gloves

Mortar & pestle

Pot with lid

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

Strainer

Spoon

Bowl

Scale

Glass jars

Fiber

Wooden beads

#Margaret Byrd: Color Quest #solarpunk #dye #natural dye #how to #how to dye #diy #do it yourself #oak galls #Oak gall #tannin #textile #fabrics #hibiscus #wooden beads #Youtube

[rjalker]

this is the most disappointing picture I've ever taken

A wasp was sitting on the acorn drinking out of the cap not even a second before I took this picture. It flew away completely before my thumb hit the camera button. RIP.

but anyways look at that wasp gall next to the cap, it's the little brown sphere on the bottom of the leaf, probably the species Belonocnema treatae, which doesn't have a common name.

This is a southern live oak tree, which is evergreen! It's weird. The acorns when ripe are a very shiny black, with a noticeable "tan line" where the cap was, which stays pale tan. It's a host plant for multiple species of gall wasps, including Belonocnema treatae, but also:

Callirhytis quercusbatatoides, aptly named the Southern Live Oak Stem Gall Wasp, because it forms galls on the stem rather than the leaves.

There's also Andricus quercusfoliatus, the Leafy Oak Gall Wasp, which also forms galls on the stems, but they almost look like fluffy acorn caps, and the first few times I saw them, I thought they /were/ developing acorns!

[ID: A portrait photograph of a southern live oak tree, with an empty acorn cap facing the camera that has a few drops of water in it. Below and around it are unripe acorns still in their caps, which are dark green on the ends and paler green towards the cap. The leaves of the live oak are dark green, and shaped long long ovals, with slightly wavy edges. The stems are light tan, with clusters of red pointed buds at the end of each twigs. Some spanish moss, with strands of fuzzy light grey, curl around the twigs and a dead branch. Next to the acorn cap in the center of the photo, on a leaf behind it, is small, red-brown sphere of a wasp gall from the species Belonocnema treatae. Some sparce grass and dead leaves are visible on the ground in the background End ID.]

#Rjalker takes pictures #southern live oak #quercus virginiana #live oak #live oaks #oaks #acorns #spanish moss #wasp galls #gall wasps #? #Belonocnema treatae #galls #oak galls

[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.

Then tell someone you know about my work–you can reblog this post, or send it to someone you think may be interested in my natural history writing, classes, and tours, as well as my upcoming book, The Everyday Naturalist. Here’s where I can be found online:

Website - http://www.rebeccalexa.com

Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalexanaturalist

Tumblr Profile – http://rebeccathenaturalist.tumblr.com

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iNaturalist Profile – https://www.inaturalist.org/people/rebeccalexa

Finally, if you like what I’m doing here, you can give me a tip at http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist

#oak gall wasps #oak galls #oak #oak trees #oak leaves #wasps #Hymenoptera #insects #invertebrates #arthropods #plants #trees #botany #Quercus #Tell a Friend Friday #nature #wildlife

[hes-a-plant]

Hey I saw your tags on my oak gall ink post and yep!! You indeed gotta crush em! But you can use a food processor if you dont wanna destroy your wrists i was not that smart and my hands hurt so bad. Heres the tutorial i used if you wanna try again! I hope you have success next time its been a blast so far although i probably looked absolutely feral roaming on the side of my street picking up galls lol

https://craftinvaders.co.uk/how-to-make-oak-gall-ink/

Aw awesome, thank you so much!!

#Oak galls #Oak gall ink #Diy

[hermo-dactylus]

Found this little baby oak tree guy with some galls? One fell off onto the ground so I might look at it closer at home

Also i just realized in this pic he's being choked out by Japanese honeysuckle so I'll be back to take care of that- it's so bad on my parents property

#oak galls #oaks #nature walks

[crudlynaturephotos]

#oak galls #oak gall wasps #belonocnema kinseyi #cynipidae #pests #insects #oak leaves #quercus #austin #texas

[rcannon992]

Oak galls: currants and spangles

Oak galls: currants and spangles

View On WordPress

#currant gall #cynipid wasp #cynipidae #Cynipini #Neuroterus quercusbaccarum #Oak gall wasps #oak galls #spangle galls