File:Gall wasp Neuroterus numismalis - suspended animation.jpg

English: Image title: “Suspended Animation”. I’m fascinated by these beautiful little structures that contain a tiny insect inside. I noticed them one autumn when I was collecting some oak leaves for a nature study class. I had an inkling they were some kind of gall. With a bit of internet searching I learned that they are silk button galls, caused by the gall wasp Neuroterus numismalis. In an incredible feat for a tiny creature, the oak tree is chemically coaxed into creating these overwintering shelters for the larvae of the wasp. The buttons fall onto the ground in autumn, but here in my garden in Ireland some were caught mid-flight by fine threads of spider silk. It turns out that this gall wasp has an amazing lifecycle – it involves two different generations, another type of gall and virgin births. For me it’s a lovely example of the unnoticed beautiful complexity of the little lives being lived out all around us.