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Oak Wool Sower Gall: Harmless Wasp Nursery

Christy: several oaks with golf-ball fuzzy balls with red spots (one per tree, low enough to cut off). Wrapped around small branches. Seen neighborhood-wide on oaks. Asks: what? worry? natural?

Expert Identification

Steve: wool sower gall (tiny gall wasp). Google Images for confirmation. Bug expert neighbor available. Most galls harmless.

Key Insight

These dramatic structures are wasp nurseries. Removing a few is fine but unnecessary. Neighborhood-wide occurrence indicates healthy wasp population, not tree epidemic.

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