Fun Facts about the Oak Gall Wasp

1. Tricks: This small brown wasp lays eggs on the leaves and stems of oak trees. It “tricks” the tree into building a nutritious shell or gall around the egg. 
2. A Private Apartment: I always thought wasps were social insects living in hives, but not the gall wasp. Once the egg hatches, a single wasp larva spends 2 to 3 years developing inside the gall, eating the soft nut-like pulp. Once mature, the winged wasp drills an escape hole and leaves the gall. 
3. Body Guards: Other wasps and insects drill holes in the gall and lay their eggs inside to take advantage of this rich source of food. However the gall is coated with a sticky nectar which attracts ants and paper wasps which fend off parasites of the tree. 
4. Shapes: Different species of wasp cause a variety of gall shapes. Some are round and brown, “oak apples”. Other galls are red and white and resemble miniature stars, sea urchins, cones, cups, or saucers.
5. Girls Club: The apple oak gall wasp is a female-only species whose unfertilized eggs all produce female wasps.