5 replies to this topic

[cpman]

So, I've found oak galls to have a suprising diversity of ants in them.

The live oaks around here have these hard galls about 1" in diameter.

 

Here are some ants I've seen in them:

 

Camponotus impressus

Camponotus etiolatus

Camponotus sayi (a queen!) -- I moved her to a test tube.

Crematogaster laeviuscula

Crematogaster punctulata

Pseudomyrmex gracilis

Temnothorax sp.

 

Next time you go anting, try breaking open some oak galls.

[kellakk]

Wow, I've never thought to look inside oak galls before! I always assumed they had wasp larvae in them. 

[Gregory2455]

That is pretty cool.

[cpman]

You just have to be careful opening them -- they can be pretty hard, but you don't want to crush any brood they have!

[PTAntFan]

Never heard of those.  Might they also have wasps in them? http://ento.psu.edu/...heets/galls-oak

[cpman]

The young ones have wasp larvae in them.
The ones I was cracking are different from the ones in that link, but I imagine that older galls of those types should house ants as well.
The wasp larva eats a little hollow into the wood, and that is where the ants nest.