How to get started? tips, local gall projects, and other resources

New to galls? No worries! Here's some info you might find useful.
Already know some, but looking for more info? Let's share some resources!
During Gall Week we will try to document the incredible diversity of galls. Galls are little structures on plants, induced by a few different groups of organisms, mostly insects. They often have interesting shapes, and many of them are colorful and objectively pretty. They can be found on leaves, stems, buds, and even roots. For a good background about galls, listen to this podcast interview with Adam Kranz from Gallformes - https://podcast.naturesarchive.com/2021/09/14/galls/
And a short episode about Gall Week 2021 - https://podcast.naturesarchive.com/2021/09/29/gallweek2021/
For Gall Week, we are interested in documenting the galls themselves or the gall inducers (adult wasps for example). If you're lucky, you might be able to document one of their associated species - parasitic or inquiline wasps trying to lay their eggs into the galls. We could add these to the project as well.
Since all galls are a result of an interaction between the gall inducer (such as a wasp) and the plant host, it is highly important to document the plant species as well. It is highly important for their identification. Please add the plant name in the observation's comments, and if possible in the "fields" as well. If you're not sure about the plant ID, you can post it to iNaturalist as well, and link that to the gall observation. Please note, you will have to add each observation to this project manually.
---if you've never looked for galls before ----
I'd suggest finding out what are the best host plants in your area. In the West: Oaks, Willows, Coyote Brush, and poplar, among many others. In the East: poplars, willows, and goldenrods (please correct me if I'm wrong). You can find them easily on iNaturalist. Try searching first for gall photos, so you'd know what to look for.
I'd like to share a few resources people can use in order to get started. Please feel free to add more - there are many great resources out there - let's share them! Are there any great books/ websites/ iNat projects that you love using? Please add them in the comments.
Here are a few suggestions, especially for the west:

Gallformers - search for galls by host plants - https://gallformers.org/
Galls of North America -
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-north-america
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/north-american-galls
Leaf and plant galls -
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/leaf-and-plant-galls
Galls of the Eastern United States - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-the-eastern-united-state
Galls of California -
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-california
Book - Plant Galls of the Western United States, Ron Russo, 2021
And please add other projects in the comments if I've missed them, and any other suggestions you might have.
Galhas de Portugal (focused on galls from Portugal)
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galhas-de-portugal
And Galls of the Iberian Peninsula (an umbrella project including the previous project, and others from Spain)
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-the-iberian-peninsula
Please help us learn about gall resources you find useful - post them in the comments.
Happy gall hunting!
Merav

Publicado el 13 de agosto de 2022 por merav merav

Comentarios

Nice! I'm an active Wikipedia editor, and will try to improve gall pages on English Wikipedia during this time as well.

Publicado por bayareawalker hace más de 1 año

In the East (Canada/US) the hosts to look at are:

Trees:
Oaks, oaks, oaks! So many galls on Oak. If you are new to galls and in the East there are likely oaks near you and this is probably the easiest place to start. They host by far the most diversity (especially Quercus alba, Eastern White Oak).

Hickory, Hackberry, Willow (further North only)

Forbs:
Goldenrods are good, but many other species in Asteraceae have galls, often on the stems.

Like Oak, Native Roses, Rubus, and Silphium all have galls made by wasps.

I wrote up a post about taking photos for getting Oak identifications. It is biased towards eastern oaks, but the general discussion at the top applies to oaks in the West and really any trees. https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/jeffdc/67593-getting-an-oak-identified

Publicado por jeffdc hace más de 1 año

For me "in the west" means Cornwall. In the east means Norfolk!

Publicado por major_bombylius hace más de 1 año

Not so much Coyote brush in Cornwall

Publicado por major_bombylius hace más de 1 año

Damn Yanks think that the earth ends at our borders. :) Added clarification to my previous comment.

Publicado por jeffdc hace más de 1 año

This is very helpful information, @merav! Thanks for the tips!

Publicado por truthseqr hace más de 1 año

For Europe, this project exists: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/european-plant-galler-faunistics
And a good European resource for galls and leafminers: https://bladmineerders.nl/

Would add that at least here in Sweden, the common aspen (Populus tremula) and common alder (Alnus glutinosa) are good trees for finding different galls. Linden (Tilia sp.) also has a few associated gallers. And, of course, oaks...

Publicado por jensu hace más de 1 año
Publicado por calconey hace más de 1 año

on this website lots of images can be found https://www.pflanzengallen.de/pflanzenverzeichnis.php?letter=A
The website is in german, but it is sorted by the scientific plant names in alphabetical subpages

Note: it not only lists galls, but also stuff that might be mistaken as a gall but is just some ungalled part of the plants

Publicado por mobbini hace más de 1 año

when you add supporting information about a gall observation what is the difference between the Host Plant and the Host? So far the species has been the same for all my gall observations.

Publicado por major_bombylius hace más de 1 año

@major_bombylius Host and Host Plant ID carry the same information - I add them both because I can never remember which project requires which field. And it makes it easier for people who are searching by those fields to find your observation regardless of which one they're searching with.

Publicado por graysquirrel hace más de 1 año

@graysquirrel Was coming to ask the same question, havent been adding them because I was worried I'd be adding to the wrong one!

Publicado por sk53 hace más de 1 año

I have had to add mine all over again as I hadn't realised it's a 6-stage process: add to gall week 2022; select host ID; add; select host plant ID; add; finally add to project!

Publicado por major_bombylius hace más de 1 año

@major_bombylius Once added to project you can click on the little cog-wheel icon next to project & populate those fields. You need to click Add (to right of field) for each one. Gradually working through my first days lot.

Publicado por sk53 hace más de 1 año

you can also upload in bulk, and then add all observations to the project at the same time, and fill in fields as well

Publicado por merav hace más de 1 año

Can you tell me when all of our observations need to be uploaded? Thanks!

Publicado por kdff hace más de 1 año

you need to make the observations between 9/3-9/11, and upload when you can

Publicado por merav hace más de 1 año

Okay, thanks!

Publicado por kdff hace más de 1 año

Agregar un comentario

Acceder o Crear una cuenta para agregar comentarios.
Vida Silvestre es una entidad asociada a la Organización Mundial de Conservación