Category Archives: Unsolved Mysteries

Another Day, Another Mothy Mystery

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Charley Eiseman

Yesterday Cheryl Harleston of Yelapa, Mexico showed me these photos she had recently taken, and asked if I had any thoughts about them. She called the subject a “corral made of grains of sand.” My immediate reaction was “I’ve never seen … Continue reading →

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Mailbag

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

People regularly send me photos of mystery objects and other bug-related phenomena to see if I recognize them. Often I’m able to respond with a precise (or approximate) identification, and that’s the end of it. Other times I’m intrigued by the … Continue reading →

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Things To Look For This Spring, Part 3

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

First, a quick update on the hackberry galls: Mike Palmer has found a bunch of them in Oklahoma, and in fact they may already all have been abandoned there. Some of them have holes near the base, and others have … Continue reading →

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Things To Look For This Spring, Part 1

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

I have a pretty much endless mental list of natural history mysteries that I would like to follow up on at some point, but there are several that, for various reasons, are in the front of my mind right now. A few of … Continue reading →

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Dune-burrowing Moths

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

In late July of 2008, Noah and I were on our way to Zion National Park in Utah when we spotted a sign for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, which we had never heard of. It sounded like a good … Continue reading →

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Turrets Topped With Pebbles

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

Here’s another little mystery for y’all. Two months ago, Sheryl Smith-Rodgers posted to BugGuide’s ID Request the following three photos, which she had taken on March 10. These structures were found in a dry creek bed on a ranch in … Continue reading →

Posted in Unsolved Mysteries | 8 Comments

Buckeye Bugs To Watch For

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

This time last year, I wrote about some drooping Ohio buckeye leaves I had just found in Ohio, which I later determined to be caused by Zeiraphera claypoleana, the “buckeye petiole borer.” Commenting on my original post, Moni Hayne mentioned finding some … Continue reading →

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Holey Leaves

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

In S.W. Frost’s excellent 1959 book, Insect Life and Insect Natural History, there is a drawing of a clover leaf with a radially symmetrical pattern that gives the impression of a bite having been taken out of each side of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | 9 Comments

Bunchberry Squiggler Unmasked!

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

You may recall that back in September, I wrote about some mysterious squiggles radiating from the bases of bunchberry leaves: I rambled on about how I thought they must be caused by a species of Antispila (Heliozelidae), but not A. freemani, the … Continue reading →

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A Hidden Gem in My Vials of Moldy Old Leaves

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

Last year Erik van Nieukerken and Camiel Doorenweerd put out a request for specimens of leaf-mining moths in the family Gracillariidae, for Camiel’s PhD project entitled “Evolution and diversification of leafmining Lepidoptera and northern hardwood forest trees.” They are doing DNA work … Continue reading →

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