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Sunday 8 February 2015

Ramshorn Gall. A nice find.

My main aim today was to photograph some male Hazel catkins, also know as 'Lambs tails'. The sun came out as I did and it was positively balmy around midday. A bonus was that the female catkins were just coming out also, so when I discovered these, and the fact the sun was shining, all was well with the world.
♂ Hazel Catkin


♀ Hazel Catkin
 I decided to walk the woodland edge, just incase a Butterfly decided to waken and stretch its wings.
On reaching an Oak that I had previously discovered Purple Hairstreak eggs on in late 2013, I decided to give the lower branches a bit of a onceover.
I was delighted to find a couple of woodied Ramshorn galls. These are very distinctive, and created by the gall wasp Andricus aries.


Ramshorn Gall. VC37


This is only the second record for North Worcestershire, and the fourth ever for the whole of the county. A species that is spreading gradually from its initial area in SE England. The Galls are worth keeping an eye out for.
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4 comments:

  1. Jason K8 February 2015 at 19:51

    Great find Mark...I will be keeping my eyes peeled for these in future!

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  2. Mark8 February 2015 at 21:34

    Thanks Jase, a great surprise, definitely keep a lookout mate, they will be out there I reckon !

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  3. Amanda Peters9 February 2015 at 14:44

    What a great find, will have to have a good look at the Oak trees at the park, I did spot a Robin's pincushion gall, yesterday it's the first one I have seen.
    Amanda xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mark9 February 2015 at 16:21

    Thak you Amanda, tes still plenty of Knopper and Marble galls showing well on Oaks while the leaves are off, :)

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