Shingle/Laurel oak. What’s this?

[ClimbingTN]

HO says needs a few dead limbs removed. Which it does but, looks like top down dying. I’m not great with bugs and crud. This looks like it has small galls, some very small beetles, a few tiny caterpillars and probably a fungus. It’s got a lot going on and I’m not sure if treatment is possible. I’m willing to research or read up on. I’ve actually seen others from the street in the same neighborhood looking similar top down dying. Sorry, I can’t get photos to rotate correctly. Craig

 

[ATH]

I know Joe Biggs from Ohio State Extension has a nice longer write up about oak galls. I'll see if I can find that later... I know I have it printed out at home so I will search by title. But for now, here is a list of some articles he has written about oak galls:

Oak Galls | BYGL

bygl.osu.edu

Bottom line, almost all Oak leaf galls are insignificant to tree health. Without seeing the bigger picture, I am going to guess that those are not the cause of the top down dieback. When you are in the tree, see if there are D-shaped exit holes. They would look just like EAB exit holes if you know what those look like... They would be from a very close cousin, the two-lined chestnut borer. This is a native bug that regularly attacks stressed oak trees.

If that is a problem, that bug is treatable. However, you need to ask the question "why is this tree stressed enough that this bug is attacking it?".