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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · 16d

Just a couple of dark taxa hanging out...

A platygastrid wasp oviposits next to an ovipositing Dasineura epilobii midge.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · 17d

Gall midge!

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 18d

Oak rough bullet gall (Disholcaspis quercusmamma) with a bodyguard that was collecting nectar from the surface of the gall. The wasps and ants that come to these nectar rewards likely deter parasitic wasps and inquiline hangers-on from ovipositing into the galls. 🌿 #galls #cynipidae #wasps #oaks

Black and white hornet on an oak leaf next to three spherical galls growing out of a stem.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · 22d

#gall #meme

A meme made from the book cover illustrated in 1972 by Harry Borgman for Dr. Futurity by Philip K Dick: A moon in the shape of a skull watches over a man in a space suit without a helmet peering at a glowing object on an alien crater. "The pervasive rot of existence", is written over the moon and, "Me, looking for a cool gall" is written above the glowing object.

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · Sep 10

'Tis the season to search for lumps on plants, aka galls! These growths are created in response to other organisms — often insects, fungi, or bacteria — injecting their chemicals into the plant. 🧵⤵️

Join the gall celebrations: tr.ee/ziMCEH

This gall looks like something you'd imagine a mythical fairy-like creature living in. It's shaped like a mushroom and has a small hole in the front.

The stem of a plant has a couple round growths with small holes in them.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Sep 9

I remember when I first learned about these and couldn't wait for the next rain to see their "tentacles"! Interestingly, I've found caterpillars feeding on the inside of some in May in Wyoming. Have you noticed anything like that?

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Sep 1

Gall Week Sept 2025 is here! Join the event: www.inaturalist.org/projects/gal... and Gall Week Umbrella Project: www.inaturalist.org/projects/gal....

#GallWeek #iNaturalist #Gallsky #botany #entomology #CitizenScience #CommunityScience #plants #galls #BioBlitz #NatureID #PlantPathology #Ecology

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

Kirsten M. Prior @kirstenmprior.bsky.social · Aug 28

This was a fun collaboration, led by Guerin Brown @guerin-brown.bsky.social in the Forbes Lab @lordforbington.bsky.social - our teams found European parasitoids emerged from North American oak gall wasp species in western and eastern North America, which were likely separate introductions.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Aug 27

#Papercraft delta traps I made for a #SciComm booth about #spongymoth detection in #AK. They were a hit with all ages. Lots of participants mentioned they had seen these traps before, but never knew what they were!

#Cricut project:
design.cricut.com/landing/proj...

#bugsky #entomology #craft

Two paper-model delta traps are held in the palm of a hand.

Delta trap cut and scored into cardstock paper, composed of five horizontal scores, two vertical scores, and four triangle perforations.

Two paper-model delta traps are placed on either side of a real delta trap. The real delta trap reads, "Insect Trap, Please Do Not Disturb".

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · May 24

I'm so glad you were able to find some! I can't not look for galls whenever I am outside, they're fantastical!

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Apr 28

Cecidology without the ethno is just as fun as well. A gall, by the way, is a growth on a plant, made of the plant's tissues, but caused by another organism that lives out part of its life in the growth.

Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Apr 28

Ethnocecidology: the relationship between people and galls, for example the US constitution is written in iron gall ink, which is way more permanent than sharpie btw ; ) or how people have used galls as medicine and food. Containers full of galls were preserved from the 79 CE Mt Vesuvius eruption.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Apr 28

#GallWeek is happening May 3rd-11.th Join the project on #iNaturalist and document gall diversity near you: www.inaturalist.org/projects/gal...

Event-sticker orders, open thru the 16th, can be accessed in the project.

#gall #citizenscience #communityscience #sticker #entomology #nature

Gall Week May 2025 Sticker Design: Rolled parchment with the text, Gall Week, lays sealed with a round wax stamp that reads, May 2025, next to an inkwell with a feather quill that resembles an oak leaf colorfully transitioning through seasons. Two round galls with exit holes lay next to the inkwell.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Mar 22

#Flowerfriday A Capitate Lousewort (Pedicularis capitata) grows on the side of Tanalian Mt with Lake Clark and the remote town of Port Alsworth, #AK featured behind. This land is Dena'ina ełnena land and has been known by the names Qizhjeh and Qizhjeh Vena for much longer.

A capitate lousewort with three flowers in bloom grows amongst bog blueberries on the side of Tanalian Mt. Alder grows further down the slope. Behind the flower is the town of Port Alsworth and Lake Clark.

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

Resistance Rangers @resistancerangers.bsky.social · Mar 13

GREAT NEWS from the courts today! Illegally-fired feds (including NPS) must be reinstated. BUT will DOI comply?

You know the drill, team! Let's tell DOI to follow the law and rehire rangers. Stand up for parks and public lands ✊

Script and addresses at tinyurl.com/RehireDOI

#RehirePublicServants

A park ranger in uniform with long dark hair stands facing away from the camera toward a forested landscape, holding a US flag.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Mar 7

That's great! I collected some galls like that, but they didn't have bud scales in them, just the inner case was present. They are also destined for sequencing. It'll be interesting to compare!

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

NPR @npr.org · Mar 2

Eileen and James Kramer were fired from their jobs at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska, even though they both recently received promotions. A judge has found the administration's firings illegal.

These National Park workers say a Trump agency fired them illegally. A judge agrees

Eileen and James Kramer were fired from their jobs at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska, even though they both recently received promotions. A judge has found the administration's firings illegal.

www.npr.org

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 27

Nice finds! While wasps do induce galls, the goldenrod gall on the left is actually caused by a fly! However, wasps do parasitize this gall. That Wasp Guy has a great graphic depicting the parasitic community of the gallfly (Eurosta solidaginis) www.etsy.com/listing/1463...

Goldenrod Gall Fly Parasitoids - Poster - Etsy

This Giclée Prints item by ThatWaspGuyPhotos has 12 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Hatfield, MA. Listed on Feb 8, 2025

www.etsy.com

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

Resistance Rangers @resistancerangers.bsky.social · Feb 26

Park rangers want YOU to help us protect our parks! This Saturday, 3/1, in solidarity with the 50:50:1 movement, plan a protest in support of your closest national park. Do it at 12 noon your time, or whatever best fits your secret plan 👀🤠😏

#ProtectOurParks #SaveOurParks #RehireRangers

A WPA-style poster in shades of brown, black, tan, and blue shows a park ranger in silhouette looking at Horseshoe Falls at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park – an upside-down American flag hangs from the cliff. Text reads “Stand up for National Parks & Public Lands Saturday, March 1 – Nationwide day of action - @ResistanceRangers” Text at the bottom reads “433 Park Sites, 433 Protests, 1Day – Worth Fighting For”

Yellow text on an olive background reads “Protect your parks protest – March 1st at noon, @ResistanceRangers”

Yellow text on olive background read “Protest ideas: hand out flyers to cars, put up a sign in front of webcams, hang a banner, hand a flag upside down, march in a gateway town, or rally inside the park. Picket around the park sign, share photos online - #ProtectOurParks #RehireParkRangers - @ResistanceRangers”

Yellow text on an olive background reads “Noon on Saturday March 1st Protect your parks protest – protest at your closest National Park site. Demand that parks and park rangers be protected. With your help, there will be protests at all 433 park sites. @ResistanceRangers”

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 26

Are you in AK right now?

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Reposted by Ramsey Sullivan

norikonbuchan.bsky.social @norikonbuchan.bsky.social · Feb 25

Feron kingi making her way out of a red cone gall

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 25

This undescribed #tephritidae induced gall (www.jstor.org/stable/42871...) is easily my favorite #gall on rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa). It's uncommon in my experience, having only encountered it twice.
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera

A four sided gall opened with four recurved points is held above a rosette of stunted leaves by a peduncle emerging from the green stem of a rubber rabbitbrush.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 24

The leaf the galls and mite above came from.

A birch leaf is held showing over 50 small (≈1-2mm wide) red pimple-like pouch galls induced by mites on its underside.

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 24

#Gall #mites (Eriophyidae) inside their gall on a #birch #leaf. #nature #macro

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Ramsey Sullivan @ramzsullivan.bsky.social · Feb 20

#Wasps, #flies, #midges, and #springtails were reared from the galls showing that complex systems have formed around this resource.

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