-
If you enjoy reading this blog, please consider making a donation. I would devote all my time to natural history writing and photography if I could! You can make a one-time donation using the yellow button above, or click the “Become a Patron” button to learn how you can support my work on a monthly basis, which gets you (among other things) monthly installments of my new leafminer book. To see other options for getting the book, click the image of its cover below.
-
To order either of my books, click on the images of their covers above.
-
Recent Posts
Do you know your plants?
For my Leafminers of North America project, I periodically need help identifying hostplants I find in my travels. You can peruse photos of them at iNaturalist. Thanks!
Most Used Tags
- Agromyzidae
- ant
- Arizona
- Asteraceae
- bee
- beetle
- Betulaceae
- black cherry
- Braconidae
- Bucculatrix
- caterpillar
- Cecidomyiidae
- chalcid
- cherry
- Chrysomelidae
- cocoon
- Coleoptera
- Curculionidae
- Curculionoidea
- Cynipidae
- Diptera
- egg
- Eulophidae
- Fabaceae
- Fagaceae
- flower
- fly
- Formicidae
- fungus
- gall
- gall midge
- gall wasp
- Gelechiidae
- goldenrod
- Gracillariidae
- Hymenoptera
- Ichneumonidae
- ichneumon wasp
- jumping spider
- larva
- leaf mine
- leafminer
- Lepidoptera
- midge
- moth
- Nantucket
- Nepticulidae
- new species
- oak
- parasitism
- parasitoid
- Phyllonorycter
- Phytomyza
- Platygastridae
- predation
- Prunus
- Prunus serotina
- Pteromalidae
- pupa
- Quercus
- Quercus rubra
- red oak
- Rosaceae
- Salticidae
- sawfly
- Solidago
- spider
- springtail
- Stigmella
- stink bug
- Tenthredinidae
- Tortricidae
- Torymidae
- wasp
- weevil
Categories
Top Posts & Pages
Bug Links
Blogroll
Archives
- February 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
Meta
Tag Archives: Berkshire BioBlitz
Pesky Parasitoids
A big “thank you” to my first 13 patrons! I’m almost done writing the main introductory chapter that I’ve been putting off dealing with for a few years now, and soon I’ll get to work trying to put together a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, Betula, Betula lenta, Betulaceae, birch, black birch, Eulophidae, Hymenoptera, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, Nepticulidae, parasitism, parasitoid, Pnigalio, wasp
8 Comments
The Endless Diversity of Tiny Wasps, Continued
A couple of months ago I gave a sneak preview of some new species I found during the 2016 Berkshire BioBlitz on Mt. Greylock. One of them now officially has a name, thanks to a paper that was just published … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, blueberry, Cecidomyiidae, Dasineura, Dasineura parthenocissi, Diptera, fly, gall, gall midge, goat's rue, Hymenoptera, larva, midge, Nantucket, new species, parasitism, parasitoid, Parthenocissus, Platygaster, Platygaster tephrosiae, Platygaster vaccinii, Platygastridae, Tephrosia virginiana, Torymidae, Trichacis, Trichacis virginiensis, Vaccinium, Virginia creeper, wasp
3 Comments
Why You Should Let Me Collect Bugs On Your Land With Impunity
Last year I posted some of my most interesting finds from the June 18 Berkshire BioBlitz on Mt. Greylock—at least, the ones that were most immediately visually interesting. There were several more significant discoveries that I didn’t want to write about … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, beech, Berkshire BioBlitz, Fagaceae, Fagus grandifolia, larva, Nematus, Nematus appalachia, new species, Platygastridae, sawfly, Sciaridae, Tenthredinidae
13 Comments
Moths From A Willow Leaf
Over the past few days, a break in fieldwork has given me a chance to start catching up on going through my photos from this year—I’m exactly five months behind at the moment. On March 19 I finally got to … Continue reading
Life and Death on Mt. Greylock
This past weekend I attended my third Berkshire BioBlitz. At my first one in 2011, I barely left the parking lot at the summit of Mt. Greylock and photographed 166 different species of insects and arachnids. This time, Julia and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aphid, Berkshire BioBlitz, BioBlitz, blueberry, chalcid, Diptera, Fagaceae, Figitidae, fly, gall, gall midge, hover fly, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, larva, Membracidae, oak, ovipositor, parasitism, parasitoid, predation, Quercus, sawfly, Syrphidae, Torymidae, treehopper, Vaccinium, Vaccinium angustifolium, wasp
11 Comments
Mushroom-headed Mayfly
On June 19 I stopped by at the Berkshire BioBlitz at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary in Pittsfield, MA, after spending the morning conducting a rare plant survey in Stockbridge. Whereas last time I photographed every bug I could and barely left … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Baetidae, Berkshire BioBlitz, Callibaetis, Callibaetis ferrugineus, Ephemeroptera, mayfly, Plauditus, Stenacron
4 Comments
Predatory Sawflies
In my last post, I showed a photo of a sawfly visiting extrafloral nectaries, and I alluded to another observation from the same day that made me wonder whether sawflies might benefit plants with extrafloral nectaries in the same way … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, Diplazontinae, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, larva, parasitoid, Platygaster, Platygastridae, predation, sawfly, Tenthredinidae, Tenthredo, wasp
1 Comment
Extrafloral Nectaries
Last weekend I participated in the Berkshire BioBlitz, a 24-hour event in which people gathered on Mt. Greylock in Adams, Massachusetts to see how many different species of animals, plants, and fungi they could find. Since there are generally plenty … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, BioBlitz, cherry, choke cherry, dark-winged fungus gnat, extrafloral nectary, fly, fungus gnat, gnat, insect, Prunus, Prunus virginiana, sawfly, Sciaridae, Tenthredinidae
9 Comments
