@norikonbuchan.bsky.social
nature lover. animal lover. okay forager. accidental gallwasp-ologist. occasional paddler. childless cat lady who is also currently catless
This tiny wasp who emerged from a miniature chestnut husk (Atrusca trimaculosa aka Woollybear Gall Wasp) reminds us how important self-care is. Well, she is doing a lot better job than I am! 😆
November 13, 2025 at 1:44 AM
This tiny wasp who emerged from a miniature chestnut husk (Atrusca trimaculosa aka Woollybear Gall Wasp) reminds us how important self-care is. Well, she is doing a lot better job than I am! 😆
Not a bad start of our mushroom season!
November 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Not a bad start of our mushroom season!
However small my role may be, I’m proud to be a part of this research! @lordforbington.bsky.social @toomanywasps.bsky.social @guerin-brown.bsky.social
stories.uiowa.edu/galls-thieve...
stories.uiowa.edu/galls-thieve...
Galls, thieves, and parasites: Iowa biologists unspool wild world of oak-dwelling wasps
Iowa biologist Andrew Forbes’ lab, with a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, is revealing the unknown ecological world of parasitic wasps, which have value to cataloging biological diver...
stories.uiowa.edu
October 19, 2025 at 10:46 PM
However small my role may be, I’m proud to be a part of this research! @lordforbington.bsky.social @toomanywasps.bsky.social @guerin-brown.bsky.social
stories.uiowa.edu/galls-thieve...
stories.uiowa.edu/galls-thieve...
I had a great time hiking with @jeffc666.bsky.social and Izabella when they visited CA and watching them do exactly what they love to do!
Bringing together people to learn more about the delightful, weird nature around them since 2008. 😎
Thank you @danamilbank.bsky.social for the feature!
Thank you @danamilbank.bsky.social for the feature!
Boy meets girl meets moth: a many-legged love triangle. My column on the very passionate community of iNaturalist, which is showing that social media and AI can be used to bring people together for a common good rather than tearing us apart.
Gift link.
wapo.st/4n7T2GI
Gift link.
wapo.st/4n7T2GI
October 17, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I had a great time hiking with @jeffc666.bsky.social and Izabella when they visited CA and watching them do exactly what they love to do!
Reposted
As a child Jane Goodall taught me that the least I could do was speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. I will always be a voice for the voiceless no matter how small the creature.
Jane Goodall
4/3/1934 - 10/1/2025
Jane Goodall
4/3/1934 - 10/1/2025
October 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
As a child Jane Goodall taught me that the least I could do was speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. I will always be a voice for the voiceless no matter how small the creature.
Jane Goodall
4/3/1934 - 10/1/2025
Jane Goodall
4/3/1934 - 10/1/2025
Reposted
It's chicken of the woods aka COW season in California! This one made an unexpected appearance on this gorgeous work of art.
Hoo made it? NorCal Artist William Thomas, photographed by Sheri Oswald, and shared with her enthusiastic permission here!
#mushroomart #foraging
Hoo made it? NorCal Artist William Thomas, photographed by Sheri Oswald, and shared with her enthusiastic permission here!
#mushroomart #foraging
September 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
It's chicken of the woods aka COW season in California! This one made an unexpected appearance on this gorgeous work of art.
Hoo made it? NorCal Artist William Thomas, photographed by Sheri Oswald, and shared with her enthusiastic permission here!
#mushroomart #foraging
Hoo made it? NorCal Artist William Thomas, photographed by Sheri Oswald, and shared with her enthusiastic permission here!
#mushroomart #foraging
Until recently @ymilesz.bsky.social taught me, I didn't know anything about the fascinating synbiotic relationship between fig trees and fig wasps. So I've been wanting to see their work in the wild, and found it on the last day of #September2025GallWeek !
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Common Fig Wasp (Blastophaga psenes)
Common Fig Wasp from Tyler Island, Walnut Grove, CA, US on September 14, 2025 at 11:07 AM by Noriko Ito. On common fig
Host observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/313985713
(Last pho...
www.inaturalist.org
September 15, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Until recently @ymilesz.bsky.social taught me, I didn't know anything about the fascinating synbiotic relationship between fig trees and fig wasps. So I've been wanting to see their work in the wild, and found it on the last day of #September2025GallWeek !
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Reposted
'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
Join the gall celebrations: tr.ee/ziMCEH
September 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM
'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
Join the gall celebrations: tr.ee/ziMCEH
Reposted
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
#GallWeek #iNaturalist #Gallsky #botany #entomology #CitizenScience #CommunityScience #plants #galls #BioBlitz #NatureID #PlantPathology #Ecology
September 1, 2025 at 8:41 AM
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
#GallWeek #iNaturalist #Gallsky #botany #entomology #CitizenScience #CommunityScience #plants #galls #BioBlitz #NatureID #PlantPathology #Ecology
No, these are not berries. They are galls made by Dryocosmus castanopsidis on Chrysolepis chrysophylla. On today’s hike, it was so nice to see them in such abundance. Many of them are already dropping to the ground and getting ready to overwinter in the leaf litter.
September 1, 2025 at 5:38 AM
No, these are not berries. They are galls made by Dryocosmus castanopsidis on Chrysolepis chrysophylla. On today’s hike, it was so nice to see them in such abundance. Many of them are already dropping to the ground and getting ready to overwinter in the leaf litter.
Reposted
A visiting cat with her favorite toy 😻 I miss having my own cat…
July 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
A visiting cat with her favorite toy 😻 I miss having my own cat…
Once in a while, I get this all-golden, red-eyed Sycophila (a parasitoid of Cynipini) females from various oak galls 🤩 I hope someday, someone gives them a well-deserved beautiful scientific name (unless they have one already).
July 1, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Once in a while, I get this all-golden, red-eyed Sycophila (a parasitoid of Cynipini) females from various oak galls 🤩 I hope someday, someone gives them a well-deserved beautiful scientific name (unless they have one already).
What is it like to be so small that a droplet of water is too much to drink?
June 6, 2025 at 4:59 AM
What is it like to be so small that a droplet of water is too much to drink?
Butterfly once thought to be locally extinct emerges in San Francisco neighborhood www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
Butterfly once thought to be locally extinct emerges in SF neighborhood
Prior to urbanization, green hairstreak butterflies dominated Northern California's coastal landscape.
www.sfgate.com
May 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Butterfly once thought to be locally extinct emerges in San Francisco neighborhood www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
My spring rearing season is pretty much over and I feel like empty nesting… 😝
May 22, 2025 at 9:15 PM
My spring rearing season is pretty much over and I feel like empty nesting… 😝
Yesterday was our first float trip of this year. A lovely day ☺️
May 20, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Yesterday was our first float trip of this year. A lovely day ☺️
Reposted
DNA verified Sclerotiniaceae sp. ‘CA02’ growing on a tan oak acorn in Sonoma County, California. The third known observation of this apparently rare and likely undescribed species. Sequenced by Mycota Lab.
iNat 229196445 / MO 489006
#fungi #ascomycota #macro #fungifriends
iNat 229196445 / MO 489006
#fungi #ascomycota #macro #fungifriends
May 11, 2025 at 11:15 PM
DNA verified Sclerotiniaceae sp. ‘CA02’ growing on a tan oak acorn in Sonoma County, California. The third known observation of this apparently rare and likely undescribed species. Sequenced by Mycota Lab.
iNat 229196445 / MO 489006
#fungi #ascomycota #macro #fungifriends
iNat 229196445 / MO 489006
#fungi #ascomycota #macro #fungifriends
Reposted
I'm excited to be leading 2 spring mushroom hunts in the Sierra Nevada with @forkinthepath on June 7 & 8. We will be looking for morels & porcini while learning about photographing mushrooms & Sierra Nevada ecology. More info at www.forkinthepath.org/classes
May 6, 2025 at 3:52 AM
I'm excited to be leading 2 spring mushroom hunts in the Sierra Nevada with @forkinthepath on June 7 & 8. We will be looking for morels & porcini while learning about photographing mushrooms & Sierra Nevada ecology. More info at www.forkinthepath.org/classes
So our morel hunting wasn’t successful, but it led to an unexpected discovery. This is the only third known record of Andricus mendocinensis since it was described, and first on @inaturalist.bsky.social !
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Andricus mendocinensis
Andricus mendocinensis from Tahoe National Forest, Foresthill, CA, US on May 2, 2025 at 03:22 PM by Noriko Ito. Root galls under tanoak trees
Host observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observat...
www.inaturalist.org
May 6, 2025 at 5:44 PM
So our morel hunting wasn’t successful, but it led to an unexpected discovery. This is the only third known record of Andricus mendocinensis since it was described, and first on @inaturalist.bsky.social !
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
May 3, 2025 at 9:27 PM
My first Diplolepis!
April 30, 2025 at 4:11 AM
My first Diplolepis!
Reposted
#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
Event-sticker orders, open thru the 16th, can be accessed in the project.
#gall #citizenscience #communityscience #sticker #entomology #nature
April 28, 2025 at 1:04 AM
#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
Event-sticker orders, open thru the 16th, can be accessed in the project.
#gall #citizenscience #communityscience #sticker #entomology #nature