The Abnormal, Gruesome Gall – Alien Invader in Your Yard
Published by They appear as if from nowhere. A previously healthy looking plant suddenly has an abnormal growth protruding from it. Some are hideous and some strangely beautiful but they leave the plant looking as if it has been invaded by miniature aliens. And in a way that’s exactly what has happened. Take a look at the weirdness of the plant gall.
Galls are caused by a variety of parasitic organisms, which can range from bacteria and fungi to insects and mites. They look as if they are grown from the plant itself and are often structures with an extremely high level of organisation. Such is the structure of many galls, the parasite can be quite easily identified. These are the galls of the Silk-button Spangle Gall Wasp. They take advantage of oak trees in two ways, First of all they create galls on the underside of leaves which overwinter on the ground attached to fallen leaves. This produces a single gender hatching – all female. So far, so Alien!
When the larvae pupate and emerge from the galls in March they lay their eggs in the buds of the oak tree and this will produce a second generation. This generation of wasps will go on again to lay their eggs on the underside of leaves which will fall and overwinter – and so the cycle continues. The galls form around the eggs. Galls do not only have to be formed by insect or mite activity, however. The example below is growing on a hemlock tree in Oregon. It is an example of Phellinus punctatusa nasty looking fungus if ever there was one. These lumps on the side of the tree are the size of cats.
The artichoke gall, (below) on the other hand is caused by an insect. When an egg is laid the gall surrounds it – it is a chemically induced distortion of the buds on, in this case, the Pendunculate Oak. A single eggs is laid within a leaf bud by the gall wasp. The artichoke itself looks quite fragile – as if a squirell could destroy it if it wished. Of course – it is not to be confused with the vegetable that bears the same name – they share the title simply because of the similarity in shape not because they are related in any way.
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51 Responses to “The Abnormal, Gruesome Gall – Alien Invader in Your Yard”
On March 7, 2010 at 7:43 am
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On March 7, 2010 at 11:11 am
Awesome! I did a gall distribution study last year but it was on boring, lumpy goldenrod. Some of these are truly fantastic.
On March 7, 2010 at 11:38 am
This is a great collection of awesome photos that’s let down a bit by the writing.
On March 7, 2010 at 12:43 pm
My kids & I have done a unit study on the 7 galls of the Valley Oak. It’s great to see these colorful examples of galls on other trees.
On March 7, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Amazing read….
Thank you so much for your research
On March 8, 2010 at 1:24 pm
rather lame article, not bad if written for a 10 year old, but not for grown ups.
On March 8, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Truth is intensely stranger than fiction. I’ll never sleep again.
On March 8, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I just finished reading Zimmer’s “Parasite Rex”. An engaging tour through all things parasitical.
On March 10, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Bravo! First I saw your article on Boing Boing, then it got picked up elsewhere for your excellent response to the know-it-all critic (below, “What every blogger wants to say”). And, I will agree with the consensus, a great article. A blog post isn’t a scientific journal, it’s a way to spark interests.
http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-every-blogger-wants-to-say.html
On March 15, 2010 at 10:52 am
Fantastic! Very interesting article and great pictures!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:52 am
Superb. Nature is fascinating and the way you capture nature is equally so.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:53 am
Excellent post with rich pictures.
Keep writing Evans ….
On March 15, 2010 at 10:53 am
very neat!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:53 am
Wretched creatures, destroy them all!!!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:53 am
Brilliant pictures makes me want to scratch something, well done. LB
On March 15, 2010 at 10:54 am
Nic information, Keep it up.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:54 am
Very interesting and well researched. Thank you RJ.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:55 am
There is a sort of beauty to these parasites on film. The most incredible to me was the Silk Button Spangle Gall Wasp. They almost look like barnacles on the leaves and the growths on the oak tree is pretty interesting and wild. You present science in a very colorful fashion within this article. Great piece.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:55 am
Awesome title! Grabbed my attention and I HAD to read the article.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:55 am
I always aim my science articles of mine towards clever ten year olds – not dick head adults who think they know it all aleady.
Thanks, Mark – spot on. Point proven!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:56 am
I always aim my science articles of towards clever ten year olds – not dick head adults who think they know it all aleady.
You guessed this of course – and thanks for pointintg out the obvious.
So, thanks, Mark – spot on. Point proven!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:56 am
You know.. I think aliens wouldn’t be this scary. D:
I’m still shaking, hahahaha.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:56 am
My gosh but this was incredibly interesting to read about and wonderfully written. In all my years of growing I have never experienced such as these-only very large fungi-mushrooms! Very, very interesting article!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:56 am
Great article and well detailed love the pictures. Its amazing to see what some of these bugs do.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:57 am
very well presented, science teachers can use this on their class
On March 15, 2010 at 10:57 am
Wow… thats interesting I have never actually heard of any of those before and the pictures are interesting too of course some are actually pretty and all are just a little bit freaky
On March 15, 2010 at 10:57 am
Nice Share…keep work on..
On March 15, 2010 at 10:58 am
Woah..i’ve never seen anything like that! Pretty interesting
On March 15, 2010 at 10:58 am
Good work! This is a very informative article with excellent pictures. I liked the title, it’s very attention grabbing.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:58 am
Here there is a folklore that if you break open the gal and let the insect inside out, it might bring good luck.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:59 am
I had never seen these and would have been curious about them if I had, but I would never have known what was inside them. The pretty looking ones I would have thought were part of the plant.
On March 15, 2010 at 10:59 am
Excellent write! Beautiful images!
On March 15, 2010 at 10:59 am
Very nice article, good work man, and a very nice title!
On March 15, 2010 at 11:00 am
These are too freaky. They look like barnacles.
On March 15, 2010 at 11:00 am
Wowzers, really good information there! I wonder where you found out all of those interesting facts! I liked the whole article, and good luck with the research!
On March 15, 2010 at 11:00 am
Great photos and very educating. I was always fascinated by this things, never knowing too well what they were.
On March 15, 2010 at 11:00 am
Interesting and scary truth, RJ.
On March 18, 2010 at 8:27 am
Haha
i just came across this article
and read this article
now i’m surprised for how many people may have had read this
so many likes for this article
and such a long long list of comments
wow
thats awesome
and fabulous . . .
Good work
to the content writer
his work is worth appraisal
that why so many people
liked it
and
on my opinion
its worth also. . .
i wonder how many view this article may have had got. . .
And the income generated by this article hehe
wow
wink wink
I wish even my article could get so much views and fans following
lol
anyways keep up the good work..
its superb
On March 18, 2010 at 8:29 am
Haha
i just came across this article
and read this article
now i\’m surprised for how many people may have had read this
so many likes for this article
and such a long long list of comments
wow
thats awesome
and fabulous . . .
Good work
to the content writer
his work is worth appraisal
that why so many people
liked it
and
on my opinion
its worth also. . .
i wonder how many view this article may have had got. . .
And the income generated by this article hehe
wow
wink wink
I wish even my article could get so much views and fans following
lol
anyways keep up the good work..
its superb
On March 19, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Oh, O loved this one! Everything about it, the informative and entertaining way you presented the info and loved the pictures. Great article. I have to say some of those things are really cute!
On March 20, 2010 at 2:12 am
Attaboy, pal!! You really know your stuff! It was truly fascinating, and extremely informative!
On March 20, 2010 at 11:10 am
Interesting and informative article
On March 20, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Thank you for the fascinating article. All that happening and I had no idea it existed. Thanks for the information.
On March 20, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Hahaha. I actually thought this was really about aliens! Anyways loved the article. I think I’ve seen one of these on one of my fruit plants…
On March 21, 2010 at 7:37 am
oh my god it is fascinating article
On March 21, 2010 at 9:41 am
Good write RJ. Now that I read your article I know what so many unidentifiable things are that I have seen during nature walks.
On March 21, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Super dynomite presentation.
On May 2, 2010 at 10:36 pm
This article took a lot of gall. Outstanding work..
On May 4, 2010 at 4:54 am
As fascinating as ever.I can’t believe the pics are real.Reading your articles are like opening new books.Thanks
On May 4, 2010 at 5:03 am
Very stony piece of work! I once saw something similar in northern Nigeria-I thought it was caused by wind erosion.These once are very defined-they actually look like proper mushrooms…haha! Nice pics.
On June 2, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Bugs play havoc with plants just as they do with humans.
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