That's a weird one! It looks to be a rust gall, which are formed by fungi. You should upload your finding to gallformers (www.gallformers.org/gall/3482) so there can be a second observation of it!

The Democrats on the House Science Committee have set up a website to collect stories from fired federal employees, anonymously if desired. Please amplify. (This helps the lawyers establish standing for bringing legal cases against the administration!)

democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings

Additionally it shows the importance of collecting guild information when studying these communities. End 🧵

These insights enhance our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics between galling insects and their parasitoids and highlight the broader ecological implications of symbiotic interactions as drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem complexity.

Conversely related gall species with the same gall morphology had consistent parasitoid guilds even though the taxonomy of the community changed

We also searched for other studies that had guild data available. We found that in four galling systems (Aciurina flies, oak gall wasps, rose gall wasps, and sawflies) there are significant differences in enemy guild composition in closely related gall inducers with distinct gall morphologies

So we determined the guilds for as much of the parasitoid community as possible between two closely related galling Aciurina flies with very different external gall morphologies

We propose that to properly test the EH, you need to consider the ecological interactions with the gall, as certain external traits are better at deterring particular enemy guilds. For example, thick-walled galls defend well against parasitoids with short ovipositors, but poorly against long ones

Traditionally the Enemy Hypothesis was tested by looking at the differences in parasitoid species between galls with different external morphologies. However, changes only in taxonomy could be from other neutral processes (drift, range expansion, etc) which don’t support the EH

With Quin Baine and @bugsinbugs.bsky.social #insects #evosky The full paper can be found here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Find out more at www.sciencefriday.com/articles/a-t...

Today, the collection is housed in a dedicated gallery at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Where you can see hundreds of plants and a few invertebrates as well! I encourage you all to go see it if you're in the area!