Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Silk button gall

The Silk Button Galls are abundant on the underside of the Oak leaves and can reach 3 mm across. This gall holds the agamic generation and looks like a thick, rolled edge disk with a deep central pit and gold hairs, there is no mark on the top of the leaf. It is a single cell gall holding one wasp and can be seen from August to October, until the leaves fall in autumn. The wasp larva will mature in August but remain in the gall on the ground throughout the winter, emerging the following year from February to April.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2021
Photo Location: Bristol, United Kingdom
Camera: ILCE-7RM4
Copyright: © Irina Petrova Adamatzky