The Physical Appearance of The Gall
The gall growth first appears as a rounded mass of green plant tissue on the leaf buds of the oak, later becoming hard and brown, being up to approximately 25 mm / 1 in in diameter. Although nearly spherical, the galls often have a number of little flattened nodules. The rounded growths are filled with a spongy mass and a single wasp larva is located in a hard seed-like cell in the centre. The word 'marble' derives from the gall's shape, which is a marble-like rounded structure. As stated, although normally distinctive the oak marble gall can, under some growth conditions, be mistaken for the oak apple gall, caused by a number of gall wasps, such as Biorhiza pallida. This may be due to the observer's unfamiliarity with the true oak apple gall which grows to be somewhat larger, has red markings, but does grow on the axillary or terminal buds. The galls sometimes coalesce. The non-parasitised specimens are at the largest end of the size range.
Fused and/or stunted specimens can be confused with A. kollari (Hartig).
Read more about this topic: Andricus Kollari
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