Hairy pea gall caused by sawfly
Eupontania pundunculi. on
Salix caprea
![[Image: Gall_zpsgqtxumsz.jpg]](http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/persamon/Gall_zpsgqtxumsz.jpg)
Model: NIKON D90
Lens: 105mm f/2.8
ExposureTime: 1/60"
Aperture: F18.0
ISO: 800
FocalLength: 105.0 mm
Good eye Peter! You do some really great record shots and as Ed says... give an education along with it. Thank you!
Kind regards
Rolf
Beautiful shot - so pretty too.
A very good photo of a remarkable structure, Peter.
It is quite astonishing that a humble insect (presumably actually its larva) can produce such a complex plant structure, by influencing the plant's cells to develop together in a totally different way compared with their usual growth patterns. Have any scientists been able to achieve a similar feat? It would seem to make genetic modification of plants by humans seem almost trivial.
In terms of natural selection, it also seems strange that the process has stood the test of time. One might think that the galls would make an attractive food to some other creatures - meat and veg in the same ready-meal package! Does that evolutionary survival indicate that galls are poisonous?
Cheers.
Philip