Plant on right shows sterile segments at tips = A. subterminale. Also a more semi-woody, upright subshrub rather then semi-sprawling rhizomatous habit. Plant on left is Salicornia pacifica and has fertile (flowering) segments all the way to tips, is more sprawling/rhizomatous. Arthrocnemum occurs on higher marsh edges where S. pacifica co-occurs but the latter occurs further "down" into marshes.
Plant on right shows sterile segments at tips = A. subterminale. Also a more semi-woody, upright subshrub rather then semi-sprawling rhizomatous habit. Plant on left is Salicornia pacifica and has fertile (flowering) segments all the way to tips, is more sprawling/rhizomatous. Arthrocnemum occurs on higher marsh edges where S. pacifica co-occurs but the latter occurs further "down" into marshes.
Very large E canum 6’L x 4’W with prolific galls throughout. No nearby E. Canum with apparent galls. Lots of anthocyanin stress response? Gall ID by @cynestor https://www.gallformers.org/gall/2172
@merav INSANE numbers - definitely Ground Zero for this species! Other galls also present in huge numbers. Consider adding an event at this Valley Oak location...
On canyon live oak
gall on Eriogonum microtheca
Leaf mining activity on Rhubarb.Note parallel, elongate egg clusters in following images.
leaves of Philadelphus
On canyon live oak
The tree had both dried flowers and (unfortunately) seemingly sterile acorns on it, indicating not only that this is likely a clonal stand consisting of a single tree, but also that there probably are no other individuals anywhere nearby. But I will double-check and see if these acorns shown have matured/grown at all in a few months.
How long has it been since another Q. palmeri was in the area? It's unclear...
I went here based on an older record https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/new_detail.pl?UCD81369 made by D. Charles Dailey. (Not sure who he was, unfortunately.) The record was a bit ambiguous, because he states that it was on a north slope, and I wasn't sure if that meant "north-facing" or literally to the north from the road. He also states that the stand was located south of Valyermo Road, but Valyermo Road runs north-south east of this location. (Maybe he meant Fort Tejon Road?) Anyways, I went to the GPS coordinates listed, and not far from those coordinates (but on the other side of the road), I found what is apparently the same stand he recorded 51 years ago. And yes, the center of the stand was located roughly 20 feet from the center of the road, although basically right by the roadside.
Gall material collected on 4/15/24 see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/207699213
and rearing chamber opened 4/23/24, midge was alive and walking around on the Salvia mellifera (Black Sage) material.
These galls look just like black cottonwood galls formed by an undescribed harmandiola. The larva suck on the underside of the leaf forming a nipple-like gall on the top of the leaf with a pale circle around it (I think I knocked some off flipping the leaf over, because some of the spots were weeping). Later the larva fall off and the spot they formed becomes more of a necrotic spot and the nipple location is still visible but no longer raised. In black cottonwood these often become holes, but I didn’t see any like that in this tree. I’m guessing this might also be undescribed.
grubbing hard
Found in gall in https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/219053499 ; Santa Barbara County, California
Brought it home to check it out underneath my scope. I was truly surprised by the abaxial side of the gall.
Check out the magot in the second shot.
Appears to be parasitizing a Live Oak Apple Gall.
two hawks fighting over a snake- always cool to see
Host plant: coast live oak
Collected: 04-07-2024
Dissected: 04-16-2024
Ovipositing on the back of coast live oak leaf
Weird large white gall attached on Muller's Oak leaf; no exit holes
Gall on Salvia columbariae?
Jeez I love this plant, it's so photogenic!
On Portuguese broom (Cytisus striatus)
Gall species?
I will be following two galls of this type on an oak I planted in 2009. They appear still to be growing... I suspect they are young Amphibolips
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202714643
G_11_Upper
Appears to be parasitic on opened Geastrum peridium. Small dark calderas emerging from where spore mass was ejected.
Dissected old one of these stem galls I had collected from Quercus kelloggii on April 1, 2023: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153392735
Link to host plant Mojave Sage (Salvia mohavensis) observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200158479
White Sage Leaf Gall Midge (Rhopalomyia audibertiae) Endemic in California.
Gallformers: https://www.gallformers.org/gall/3243 (as of 2/22/24)
(Mojave Sage (Salvia mohavensis) is not listed specifically as a host in Gallformers as of 2/22/24, only Salvia apiana / Salvia leucophylla / Salvia mellifera ).
"Rhopalomyia audibertiae
Family: Cecidomyiidae | Genus: Rhopalomyia
Hosts: Salvia apiana / Salvia leucophylla / Salvia mellifera
Detachable: integral
Color: gray, red, green, purple
Texture: hairy
Shape: conical, hemispherical
Season: Spring
Alignment: erect
Location: upper leaf, lower leaf, leaf midrib, between leaf veins"
BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Rhopalomyia%20audibertiae
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What is a Gall? Gallformers: https://www.gallformers.org/
"Plant galls are abnormal growths of plant tissues, similar to tumors or warts in animals, that have an external cause--such as an insect, mite, nematode, virus, fungus, bacterium, or even another plant species. Growths caused by genetic mutations are not galls. Nor are lerps and other constructions on a plant that do not contain plant tissue. Plant galls are often complex structures that allow the insect or mite that caused the gall to be identified even if that insect or mite is not visible."
GALLS
Plant Galls of the Western United States: a photographic guide to 536 species of plant galls found west of the Rockies, with 400+ color images and plates, Ronald A. Russo, April 2021. (Available on Amazon)
Gallformers: Identify Galls by name or by host plant https://www.gallformers.org/id
INaturalist Project, Galls of California https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-california
California Oak Galls (photo guide), Joyce Gross: https://joycegross.com/galls_ca_oak.php
California Oak Galls Induced by Unknown or Undescribed Species (photo guide), Joyce Gross: https://joycegross.com/galls_ca_oak_undescribed.php
Nancy Asquith Journal: California Oak Galls https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-plants-with-mystery-galls/journal/44142-california-oak-galls
Nancy Asquith Journal: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-california/journal/44203-where-to-learn-more-about-galls
BugGuide: Identification, Images, & Information for insects and other gall-inducers, (US & Canada) clickable categories or use search bar: https://bugguide.net/node/view/3/bgpage
BugGuide: Unidentified Tracks, Larvae, Webs, Parasites, and Other Mysteries: https://bugguide.net/node/view/696662/bgpage
INaturalist Project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/all-your-galls-are-belong-to-us
On Salvia clevelandii
Found in our car after hiking. The car was parked under valley oak trees, but I also hiked through both valley and coast live oaks so I don’t know which host or gall she came from.
On coast live oak
On Populus trichocarpa
Found on a valley oak twig fallen among the leaf litter (shown in last 2 photos)
Milk on nose
On interior live oak
"One of these things is not like the other"
I was walking around Summit Park today. Almost all of the native trees here (let alone the oaks) are valley oaks, but up on the hill from the path nearby, I saw one large, slightly bushier oak with seemingly more pastel-colored leaves. I realized after taking a closer look that it appears to be a blue oak. It looks very old based on the trunk size (>a century old). I could not find any acorns on it, but that was also true for the valley oaks nearby for the most part (too many acorn-eating animals nearby)
On coast live oak
Stem gall on Asclepia subulata
Foraging with raging wildfire in background.
Quercus agrifolia x wislizeni/parvula shrevei.
Leaf shape and venation pattern and number of pairs help to ID as such.
Collected possible galled Quercus agrifolia acorn 10/1/23, dissected same day.
Preserved in 40% alcohol and refrigerated at 40°F.
Acorn from this tree/observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185918850
Duplicated observation for parasitoid hymenopteran larvae on the rear of this cynipid wasp pupa here:
Spores under 100x magnification. Some with camera optical zoom.
Extracted by dipping in tap water and siphoning spores from upper surface of water.
From Quercus agrifolia growing tip.
Collected 9/15/23, refrigerated in a ziploc bag until 9/24 and dissected Quercus agrifolia acorn.
Preserved in 40% ethanol at 40°F.
Collected acorn from same tree, same date/time as the acorn gall observations below (2nd acorn):
Gall on Heartleaf Keckiella.
Observation of the plant is here.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183796572
Galled (?) inside of flower/seed pod of Orange Bush Monkeyflower. For contrast, this is the inside of a normally-developed seed pod from the same plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134953172
insects emerged from flowers of Orange Bush Monkeyflower
q-kelloggii-acorn-cup-gall-wasp? not sure what oak this is but I think it's Q. berberidifolia? That isn't listed as one of the hosts on gallformers though
these deformed acorns were pretty common in this particular hill
Moth on a gall on Goldenrod, found by Merav Vonshak
Gall on Elderberry fruit? I see a hole in what appears to be misshaped fruit.
Flushed by imm. RTHA
This is observation 1 of 3 that I saw earlier this year. The galls I found in these observations include an unknown 'cylinder' gall (I think they're attached to stems), and also a few of the leaf galls and possibly R. sulcata galls.
2) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/126016049
3) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/126016161
This is the first time I've found these galls with exuviae. On toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, in a native plant garden.
In situ: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/169671185
Collected on 06-25-2023: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/177263178
2 live and 2 dead larvae cut-out: 08-07-2023
Asteromyia modesta is only gall inducer I found for this genus, but these galls look different--fuzzy and seem to arise from stem at base of leaf; fingernail dissection attempted--not sure if one chamber or more than one
Bighorn Mine trail. Insect stem gall on Galium
Leaf gall on Ceanothus cuneatus.
Gall on Quercus chrysolepis
Just chillin on a school wall.
These youngsters might be from the kestrels that a observed mating last March.
Leaf mine on Cercocarpus montanus. I didn't see any obvious areas where the miner may have exited so I collected for rearing. Leafminer specimen 2.