Thanks everyone for joining our project and helping out documenting galls! Our period of documenting galls is now over, however you can upload all observations documented between 4/15-23.

Hello All,

Thank you to everyone who has been posting observations, making IDs, and spreading the word about Gall Week.

During past Gall Week events there has been a custom design printed on a shirt to mark the occasion. This time we thought we would try a sticker to reduce costs and lower environmental impact.

This alcohol ink art (pictured below) was created by my partner, Chelsea Niles, and is based on Diplolepis polita. Chelsea is the Program Manager for Interpretation at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and a stained glass artist in her spare time. She graciously volunteered to make another design for the event (she made last year's too) in her free time at home. Thank you Chelsea!

The die cut sticker will likely be 3"-4" long. The actual die cut outline may vary once the design is submitted to the printing company.

Sticker price depends on how many people want one, but I am thinking that $2 should help me cover the cost of printing and mailing. Any earnings outside cost will be donated to iNaturalist.

Ordering is now closed. I will order stickers and once they arrive address envelopes and send out.

Unfortunately, due to the amount of customs paperwork I would have to fill out to send each order outside of the US, I can only mail to US addresses.

Thank you all again for your work on the project and let me know if you have questions in the comments.

Ramsey

Chaange of plan. I've decided to do subsequent days as separate posts: markup doesn't work as well in comments & ir makes it easier for other commenters. So this is day 3 of the 2023 Spring Gall Week.

I started the day with one objective: find the elusive Marble Gall. I remember seeing this and several other Oak galls in the opposite direction to my usual walks. I therefore earmarked it for the afternoon.

The morning proved serendipitous. Firstly, I stopped by some planted sapling birches, to check the new catkins. These are low enough to allow observation at eye level, unlike the ones at the end of the road which have been pruned. I've been checking out the development of the female catkins for a couple of weeks now. As they mature they turn upright, and the flowers open from the proximal (lower end). It's just possible to see two stigmas protroding very slightly. Once all flowers are open I expect to find female Semudobia ovipositing into the catkin, and that's exactly what I found today. I even made a little video, but cant share it on iNaturalist. These images aren't perfect as it was a bit breezy.

Here's a similar photo I took 11 years ago:

My second bit of serendipity was that I forgot to make bread this morning, so had to get some shop bread for lunch. I diverted en route to the shop to a large Bay Laurel covered with old galls of Lauritrioza alacris.

I followed my plan in the afternoon. Still a lot of trees with buds firmly closed. I found the three oaks on the lawns of tge main University campus, but drew a blank on the first. The second had a patch of twig covered by Lachnus aphids, and some Ramshorn galls. The third had a solitary Marble Gall. Success!

I carried on to look at a few Turkey Oaks, most were still in bud, another has hsd the gall-bearing branvhes pruned away, but was coming into leaf. Even the Lucombe Oak hybrid had lost all its leaves, so no chance of old galls there.

On the way back I looked at some Black Poplars by the ring road. A few old Spiral galls were visible, but no sign of leaves.

I finally broke the Marble Gall bogey, and added two more which I didn't expect.

I likely won't find anything on Day 4, as I have to stay at the house in the afternoon, but I plan a visit to the last of our local churchyards looking for the Artichoke gall on Yew. I'm hopeful about finding a few more mite galls by the end of the week, so 30 galls still looks in reach.

@sk53 here.

I wrote a journal post about my first day looking for galls around Nottingham, my home in the East Midlands of England. One of this project's originators, @merav, gave me permission to post the journal here.

I'm going to try posting each day's gall hunting as a comment to this journal.

Day 1

Spring Gall week 2023 comes a week or so too early for central England. This year Spring has come slowly, and in fits and starts, with the result that leaf bud burst is only just underway for most trees.

Usually the first new galls of Spring are eriophyid galls on newly unfurled leaves, with Acer, Salix and Crataegus often galling as tge leaves open (I believe the mites overwinter within the bud scales, so can move in immediately). Cecid gall causers tend to be a bit later: early ones are Semudobia sp. Ovipositing into female Betula catkins, and Dasineura tiliae, but neither host is ready yet. Oak Apples should be forming now, but I have only one location close by where I've seen them. Other cynpids on Quercus must await the catkins.

All of this means my initial hunt relied on old galls, a few rusts, and some eriophyid big buds, leaving only about 3 currently tenanted galls out my first day's haul of 17 galls:

• Trioza centranthi. Until 6 years ago this psyllid could not over-winter inland in Britain. A colony was discovered in Leicestershire by Graham Calow in October 2016. I then found it in two locations in Nottinghamshire in early 2019, and discovered one more on checking photos taken even earlier (1st January). Four years down the line the galls are ubiquitous locally, and appear rapidly on new seedlings.
  ,
  
  
  
  

Box Leaf Miner : a winter cecid gall on Box. I'm lucky enough to have a local colony, which seems to have survived the arrival of the Box Moth which has defoliated much of the plant. This is quite difficult to find, mainly because Box tends to be regularly pruned and the galls/mines are found only in the latest leaves towards the end of a stem. The best bet is to locate Box which has been allowed to grow out: when I was telling Jenny Seawright what to look for she knew such a p.ant close to her, and had photos of the gall the next day.

When you're looking for galls, it's important to know what are the best host plants in your area. You can find the host plants 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 (integrating comments from previous Gall Week projects):

Africa:
Galls of Africa -
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-africa
South Africa (and surrounding countries) - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-s-afr

Asia:
Taiwan - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/gall-taiwan

Australia:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/australian-galls

Europe:
Galls of Europe - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/european-plant-galler-faunistics
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
A website is in German, but it is sorted by the scientific plant names in alphabetical subpages. It not only lists galls, but also stuff that might be mistaken as a gall but is just some ungalled part of the plants - https://www.pflanzengallen.de/pflanzenverzeichnis.php?letter=A
A good European resource for galls and leafminers: https://bladmineerders.nl/
In Sweden, look for Common aspen (Populus tremula), common alder (Alnus glutinosa), Linden (Tilia sp.), and oaks.
Galls of Britain and Ireland: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/plant-galls-of-britain-ireland

North America:
Host Plants -
In the West: Oaks! Willows, Coyote Brush, and Poplars, creosote bush, roses.
In the East: Oaks! poplars, willows, Hickory, Hackberry, Goldenrods, maples, sumacs, jewelweed, and many Asteraceae.
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
Notes about gall-making insects on goldenrods, particularly in Eastern North America - https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/ddennism/28052-goldenrod-galls
Creosote Bush galls - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/creosote-bush-galls
Books - Plant Galls of the Western United States, Ron Russo, 2021
Tracks & Signs of Insects and Other Invertebrates: A Guide to North American Species, Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney, 2010

South America:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/south-american-galls

And please add other projects in the comments if I've missed them, and any other suggestions you might have.

We're almost there - Spring Gall Week 2023 will begin tomorrow, 4/15. Please make new observations only from 4/15 until 4/23. You can continue uploading observations later, as long as they were documented between those dates. In order to add an observation to the project, first join the project, and then select the project for each observation uploaded.
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 Nature's Archive's podcast episodes about galls:

• Especially for our Spring Gall Week event, listen to this podcast interview with Adam Kranz from Gallformes - https://podcast.naturesarchive.com/2023/04/10/spring-galls/
• A previous interview with Adam Kranz about galls - 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. 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 as stated above. Check the next journal post for suggested resources.

Hello Everyone,

Our first spring event is about to begin!

I wanted to take a moment and tag participants from previous gall week projects that have not yet joined in case they missed us. Please feel free to tag others in the comments that may be interested in participating.

@a_emmerson
@akilee
@alejandro_lopez_nunez
@alexis_orion
@alexis238
@amberenergy
@ana_kaahanui
@andreacala
@andreareid
@anetteffm
@anewmark
@annikaml
@antonjo
@arf2-d2
@aruejohns
@astrobirder
@attilaolah
@aurocyon
@austinrkelly
@bawb
@bayareawalker
@beartracker
@benvelavi
@billmac
@birderboy2015
@blackwarbler
@blazeclaw
@botanylicious
@botswanabugs
@brook
@bryce_b
@bs-phd
@busyberries
@cammie
@captainmantis37
@cardinal831
@carlacorazza
@carlosd73
@carolblaney
@carrieseltzer
@cath_callas
@cecildomyiidae
@ceiseman
@charcoscompanhia
@chartley6
@chilipossum
@chloe_and_trevor
@cjutzic
@claben
@claire2
@clarkia11
@clay_s
@cliffzavala
@cmjmousseau
@cocokitty
@codrin_bucur
@colinpurrington
@coltercook
@conboy
@craigbiegler
@ctrubo
@cwbarrows
@dan_macneal
@darth_schrader
@daviddonica
@dbkent
@ddennism
@docentgal
@donaldasutherland
@doraobrien
@dpom
@drenshaw
@eddiedunbar
@edwardrooks
@efrenibarreta
@eickwort
@eiresh
@ekmes
@ekoberle
@elizabethbraker
@emartian
@emendela
@emilyherriott
@empressmoth
@esant
@fabio1960
@faluke
@flowerfifi
@flowntheloop
@foxandcubs
@froudone
@gabriele_lagrasta
@gallus3524
@garth_harwood
@garyj
@gerrit_oehm
@giantcicada
@gillessanmartin
@gina-barton
@godenard
@grazant
@greenscenery
@griffith
@gyrrlfalcon
@hannahchase
@happyheidi
@harsiparker
@hermmy
@hestan
@hkibak
@hydrocycler
@ildikorab
@istjinlbc
@ivanmunks
@jamiegriffiths
@janetwright
@jansson
@jeff85
@jen_outside
@jenniferf4
@jensu
@jeremybarker
@jeremycahill
@jheiser
@jmole
@jmpackard
@joelm95060
@john_abrams
@johnharshman
@jollygoodyellow
@josefloribundus
@jrose23
@jurga_li
@kadeemgilbert
@karangattu
@kate_ar
@kbulver
@kchmura
@khashagen
@kimcuriel
@kitty12
@kneubaue
@knotwood
@kpinso
@krechmer
@krz
@ktay
@kzoebel
@lacigerhart
@laikenw
@laszlozoltan
@latvianbird
@laurasea
@lfelliott
@liliana_duarte
@little_metal_weirdo
@llsrvd
@loganinsky
@lora_roams
@lotusmorning
@luca_hickey
@lulubelle
@ma_sche
@madily
@major_bombylius
@marobertson
@marykrieger
@matthewvosper
@megnd
@metsa
@mfoss
@michaelwohlstadter
@mikeakresh
@milliebasden
@mobbini
@molly2
@moonlittrails
@mothyfriend
@moxiel
@mst_
@mwilliams76
@mws
@narpus
@nealkelso
@newtpatrol
@norgram
@nschwab
@nstassinopoulos
@nuujaka
@nzehr
@ocean_beach_goth
@oiseaulune
@oliverc29
@oonharn
@opalsea
@optilete
@orchidrose
@origamiesme
@origamilevi
@owlofme
@ozarkpoppy
@pachips
@papagrande2073
@patriciafojut
@patsimpson2000
@pedromonica
@pete_woods
@pgb
@philodendronjoe
@rickr
@rmoger
@robinellison
@robinlg
@robinwhistles
@rockyferoe
@rosiesmama
@roslynmbell
@sabinepuchta
@sallyslak
@saltwellsbirder
@sapienshane
@sauciepepper
@savedbywildthings
@sdehart9
@sea-kangaroo
@serowe_museum
@shinybraids
@showmemowildlife
@silversea_starsong
@simpylmare55
@sipsey
@sk53
@stacy230
@ste85
@stella20009
@steve_mcwilliam
@stevenarntson
@supertiger
@susan_marley
@susanhewitt
@susanmf
@susanne-kasimir
@svatka
@sweiser
@tammy524
@taralee
@tealderrer
@tennesseehills
@terit
@thebeachcomber
@thephoxinus
@thrasherbird
@tinawolf
@tiwane
@tmurray74
@tparkeressig
@truthseqr
@u_phantasticus
@utchee
@valentinabuono
@valerieniles
@vermfly
@viktorija26
@w4v
@weintraub3
@wendyjegla
@wooac
@woodwitch
@wsweet321
@wundati
@wyethialover
@xiaodoudou
@yehuda7
@yetikat
@zdanko