A gall is an unusual but harmless growth on a plant, formed in response to an insect (often a tiny wasp or fly) laying it's eggs in plant tissue. Chemicals injected by the insect trigger the plant to grow around the eggs, creating a round, golf ball-sized gall. These growths act as tiny shelters for the developing larvae, providing them with food (they eat their way out), a home, and protection from (some) predators.
Here in Massachusetts, the most common gall we see is known as the Oak Apple Gall, which forms when a gall wasp (Latin name: Amphibolips confluenta) lays its eggs on the leaves or twigs of oak trees. These gall wasps are actually a key food source for many of our local birds, especially woodpeckers, chikadees, and blue jays, which peck open galls to reach the protein-packed larvae inside. Parasitic wasps and other predators also rely on gall-making insects as a food source, while the abandoned galls, once vacated by the larvae, become mini-habitats for other small insects.
When I was a child, my mother told me that these round, brownish balls on the ground outside were spider eggs. This idea stuck with me for 39 years, and the irrational fear of stepping on one of these arachnid ‘eggs', causing hundreds of tiny spiders to emerge, was then passed down to my 3 children. All the way until I learned it’s true identity while taking a crash course on Entomology, or the zoological study of insects. My mom and I recently laughed hysterically at our generational misunderstandings, while watching my own kids explore and play in their grandmother’s backyard, waiting for one of them to shout out, “don't touch that spider egg!”
You will traverse an array of different habitats while treking out to this cache, including meadow, ephermal pools, a hemlock dense area, beaver pond, marshy wetlands, large rocky outcroppings, and both high and low elevation areas. Located deep into a decidious forest dominated by varying White Oak species, the cache is nestled amoung large chestnut and swamp oak trees. Where the trail reverses direction, take a moment to stop (sign the log), and scope out the rocky ledges of Snake Hill on one side of you, and the expansive quiet wetland marshes on the other.
This cache is placed in honor of my mom's birthday. :)
Rocky Hill Wildlife Sanctuary trails