chyroptera's Journal

National Moth Week is almost here! Anyone up for a night of moth-lighting?
List of events at:
https://nationalmothweek.org/

National Moth Week, 11th annual, July 23-31, 2022

"National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths. “Moth-ers” of all ages and abilities are encouraged to learn about, observe, and document moths in their backyards, parks, and neighborhoods. National Moth Week is being held, worldwide, during the last full week of July. NMW offers everyone, everywhere a unique opportunity to become a Citizen Scientist and contribute scientific data about moths. Through partnerships with major online biological data depositories, NMW participants can help map moth distribution and provide needed information on other life history aspects around the globe."

This all started with @naturesarchive posting this observation from Stanislaus County CA this month!: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/126475444
I am in the east bay and I regularly see tons of Grindelia sp. but had not noticed any leafy galls on them before. I assume since the plants are so common they get passed over often by iNatters in favor of rarer wildflowers and flowers with more pollinators. Interestingly enough I was at a project site in Alameda County this week surrounded by Grindelia sp. and once I actually looked I saw leafy galls for the first time! So excited and wanted to post, but they were on private property, so I figured I would try to find them at a public location such as EBRPD Brushy Peak Regional Preserve which is somewhat nearby in the same habitat.
In iNat, I looked up which trails people had seen Grindelia, and set off this morning to find more leafy galls. I looked at 20+ Grindelia plants before finding my first one!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127795268
Looked at 20 more Grindelia plants and found a second!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127795308
The third plant with a gall I decided I would split it open to see if it was indeed an insect creating the gall as suspected, and if the gall actually had a chamber--I was in luck:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127795471
Chamber and larva confirmed!
One more gall from the day:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127795675
I bet there are many more leafy galls on Grindelia throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley! Keep your eyes peeled! (See a dried up version from Jan 2020):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37360074
-Andrea