Tag Archives: Bucculatrix

The Yard List(s)

This year Julia and I decided to take a break from traveling and—for once—experience our yard through all the seasons without missing anything. Given the stay-at-home orders of late, and my almost complete lack of employment opportunities as a result, … Continue reading

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Ten Years Later

Since we have ten fingers and ten toes, I suppose it’s worth mentioning that it was ten years ago today that Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates was first published. People are often surprised when I tell them that … Continue reading

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Micro Fiber Art

I’m mainly writing this post because of one picture I wanted to share, but first I’ll provide a little context. In the moth genus Bucculatrix, most species start out life as leafminers, forming short linear mines. Bucculatrix locuples is typical in this … Continue reading

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Another Progress Report (Goofing Off in the Desert)

Remember at the beginning of last year when I announced that I had finished making keys to the known leaf mines on every plant genus in the US and Canada? I noted that “this project can never really be finished, because … Continue reading

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Connecticut BioBlitz

A month ago Dave Wagner got in touch with me and Julia, saying we were needed at the 2016 Connecticut State BioBlitz on June 3 and 4. He wanted to make sure leafminers were properly represented in this attempt to break … Continue reading

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Previews of Parasitoids

Lately I’ve taken to getting backlit shots of leaf mines by removing one of the Twin Lite flash heads and holding the leaf on top of it, so that when the flash goes off the mine is illuminated from both sides. … Continue reading

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More Mallow Miners

A few weeks ago I wrote about a mystery plant from Arizona that I suspected was a mallow because of its leaf mines and the fly that had emerged from one of them.  Among the few responses I got, there … Continue reading

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Arizona Bugs, Part 3

Here’s my final (for now) installment of photos from last November’s trip to Arizona.  The first several were taken in the vicinity of Tucson. At the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, I saw this Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis), the only metalmark (Riodinidae) … Continue reading

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More Micro-tracking

I deliberately waited until I had finished my first book before buying the MP-E 65mm macro lens, because I wanted to focus on making a guide to things that people can actually see.  Now that I have it, though, it … Continue reading

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Crazy Eights

When Noah Charney and I give a presentation about invertebrate tracks and sign, we like to spend a little time staring at the outside walls of the venue and see what we can find there.  The wall at yesterday’s talk … Continue reading

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