What the.....

We saw this on the trail today when I was with my hiking ladies!   So the Seek app said it was a Wool Sower Gall Wasp.   On looking up the info on this I found...

The wool sower gall is a distinct and unusual plant growth induced by the secretions of the grubs of a tiny gall wasp, Callirhytis seminator. These wasps are about 1/8 inch long, dark brown, and their abdomens are noticeably flattened from side to side. The grubs are translucent to white, plump, and legless.


We touched the gall but did not open it up since there may have been wasps but now I know it was probably just larva.   It sure was a bright strawberry color on the end of a tiny limb against the mostly brownish forest floor.   

There were 11 of us hiking today...not too long a hike but lots of laughs and then we all had lunch together at the Antique Mall Cafe that I like so much.  This group loves to eat after hiking!!   Looking forward to our next adventure.