Native Plant Society of New Mexico Native Plant Society of New Mexico

Galls are growths on plants caused by another organism and can be all sorts of shapes and forms. If you’ve seen them, you may have wondered: what is the function of these weird growths, and how can I identify them? Quin Baine, Museum Research fellow at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, will summarize the main groups of insect gall formers, their specialized relationships to plants, and how to recognize common galls of native plants of the southwest. Gain an insight into an unusual plant interaction, and hopefully be inspired to start identifying species of a cool and understudied group of plant-dependent animals.

Quin Baine is a Museum Research fellow at the Museum of Southwestern Biology and a Ph.D. candidate in Biology at the University of New Mexico. She is an entomologist by training and has been working to establish a gall specimen collection at the museum. Her current research is on the highly diverse gall-associated communities of rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) in the Southwest.