Oak apple

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An oak apple is a mutation of an oak leaf caused by chemicals injected by the larvae of certain kinds of gall wasp. They are so called because the gall, which can measure up to 5 cm in diameter but is normally only around 2 cm, looks a little like an apple.

European oak apples are caused by the Biorhiza pallida gall wasp and American oak apples by Amphibolips confluenta. ^[1]

Oak apples may be brownish or reddish.

The wasp larva that lives inside oak apples are a good source of bait for fishing, and also are useful as a survival food.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] references

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary

[edit] See also

• Oak Apple Day
• Iron gall ink
• Oak marble gall
• Knopper gall
• Pineapple gall
• Rose bedeguar gall
• Oak artichoke gall

[edit] External links

• Amphibolips confluenta
• Biorhiza pallida
• Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society photograph of galls with 'red apple' appearance See also:[1]