Downy Woodpecker on Goldenrod Gail – Print – 458/950

19.5″ x 9.5″

“Huddled in the blowing snow, the male downy woodpecker has found a morsel of food
in a goldenrod gall. These galls are formed by the plant as a protective coating around
a small parasitic fly which lays its egg in the stem. It is like the pearl around the
aggravation in an oyster. Sometimes the little fly larva is parasitized by a certain
species of tiny wasp which lays its egg on the fly. The fly larva provides meat for
the developing baby wasp. There are even other wasps that parasitize the wasp
larva, which is feeding on the fly larva, which is feeding on the goldenrod. And
then in winter, the downy woodpecker hews a hole in the pulpy gall and
devours the pupa of the winner.”

S08 – 005