Richard Williamson's column November 3

The wasp is a foreigner from eastern Europe and arrived in this country 41 years ago, possibly imported by tourists who were intrigued by the peculiar nest which the wasp makes out of the acorn. The wasp needs this nest to protect itself and the one thousand eggs inside its body which it wants to lay in February.

The knopper gall wasp (Andricus quercuscalicis) has spread very rapidly across Britain but has good and bad years: this is a good one. If you've walked anywhere under an oak tree this autumn you will have seen and squashed underfoot the ugly, sticky misshapen lumps still attached to their cups, which the tree has been forced to grow instead of its seed. This does not harm the tree; the problem is one for all the birds and mammals which normally feed on acorns throughout the winter.

Read the West Sussex Gazette November 3 for full column.