Collect for the Eurosta Gall Size Project
Linyi Zhang at GWU and her collaborators Art Weis and Glen Hood are seeking dedicated naturalists to add sites to their continent-wide gall evolution project. Compared to some previous collection opportunities I've promoted, this one requires a bit more commitment and planning, but it's a really ambitious long term study that should produce some pretty cool evolutionary insight. It might be a cool project to undertake with a biology class or a naturalist group, rather than alone.
Where:
The range of Eurosta solidaginis
What you'd need to do:
- Identify a conveniently accessible site (e.g. wildlife management area; old fields) that contains a large population of Eurosta (look for places Solidago altissima is commonly reported). Write down the coordinates of the site.
Before the first frost:
- Clear the site of last year's galls (dry, gray/silver, emergence holes)
- Identify the Solidago species present at the site. If there are multiple species, mark hosts that are Solidago altissima (hairy stems).
- We have a leaf kit you can request to send leaf samples if desired, or you can make iNat observations and seek confirmation from experts.
- Determine collection timing. Needs to be after winter (when woodpeckers stop feeding on galls) but before Eurosta emerge (sometime between early March and late April). We'll have a tool ready by new year to help calculate this for your latitude.
When time comes:
- Collect galls. Cut with pruning shears, place in paper bags, label each bag with site name and coordinates, ship together in a cardboard box.
- Ideally 200+, 400 if population is really large, 50 is not enough for the main project but useful for sequencing.
