Hi everyone, we’re hoping to run an ink making workshop in the year ahead, and I would be grateful to anyone who walks around oak trees to bring us insect galls!
There are so many kinds, but we’re particularly interested in oak apple galls and similar, which may tend to have higher tannin content.
From what I can tell, it’s pretty hard to reliably identify galls, but if you’re curious, clicking the images below will take you to their source, i.e. the bugguide.net listing for the insect believed to instigate the gall pictured. These four may be some of the best for our purposes!
N.B. It also seems that some galls (e.g. the bullet galls) exude nectar from the host plant, which attracts insects that: a) keep down predation; but also (b) present a sting risk to you and me. Please don’t get hurt trying to help us! Plenty of galls can be found fallen on the ground, with any nectaries gone out of production– I imagine fallen galls are also more likely to be free of larvae. And drier!
You can bring in galls bagged in paper or plastic, and I’ll come pick them up from wherever.
Thanks so much!
Zeb
