Green Acorns in the Woods

Written By Ruth Walker

Perhaps you’ve noticed green acorns on the trails. Oaks will drop acorns if stressed, but there’s also a more intriguing cause … the acorn pip gall wasp.

If you see many green acorns on the ground, stop and examine a few acorns. Look for acorns that look like the ones pictured below. 


Specifically, look for a triangular shaped gall or a notch on the top of the acorn.  The notch is present if the gall has fallen out. If the acorn retains its cap, the gall or notch is just below the cap (top row in photo). If you look very closely you might find the galls in the duff (bottom row in photo). (Note: a gall is an abnormal outgrowth of plant tissue usually due to insect or mite parasites or fungi.)

The pip gall is caused by the exceptionally tiny pip gall wasp. In our Woods, pip gall wasps laid eggs in acorns earlier this summer. Larvae hatched and caused the acorns to produce the galls. The larvae now live inside the galls, and feed on the gall’s tissue. This infestation causes the oak trees to drop the green acorns. Typically, adult wasps will emerge from the gall next year and start a complex life cycle that includes causing a woolly catkin gall on the red oak’s flowers. Intrigued? Read here for the details The The Peculiar Acorn Pip Gall Wasp.

References

Merriam-Webster Gall Definition

Williams, L. (2023, 7 July). Acorn Pip Galls, Woolly Catkin Galls All The Same. Wisconsin DNR Forestry News.

Ruth Walker

Creative and targeted programs that make an impact are the hallmark of experienced marketing professional Ruth Steele Walker. Focusing on results that improve the bottom line, she accelerates projects from conception to implementation with a mastery of writing, production, placement, budgeting and coordination.

During more than 25 years with Foremost Corporation of America, the nation's leading insurer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles, Walker consistently produced effective communications programs that resulted in increased net written premium. Her expertise in crisis communications was a vital part of Foremost's exemplary customer service in the wake of hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Walker specializes in communications targeting the 50+ demographic, with an emphasis in communications for the 65+ segment.

Among other achievements, Walker developed communications for the merger of Foremost and Farmers Insurance, addressing audiences including customers, employees, trade and consumer media. For Foremost's 50th anniversary, she created a celebration program of internal and external promotions, special events, recognition and a 162-page commemorative book.

Earlier in her career, Walker was a newspaper reporter, a TV and radio producer, and worked in national sales and traffic at network TV affiliates. Walker earned a BA in journalism from Michigan State University and an MS in communications from Grand Valley State University.

She and her husband Scott operate a small vineyard in Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula, producing premium vinifera wine grapes. The vineyard has been the largest local supplier for Suttons Bay wine label L. Mawby, recently named one of the world's top producers of sparkling wines.

https://www.duenorthmarketing.net
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