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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!
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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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Bucculatrix, Bucculatrix staintonella, Chenopodiastrum, Chenopodium, Chrysoesthia sexguttella, Dolerus, Gelechiidae, Hymenoptera, Landryia, Landryia impositella, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, sawfly, Scythrididae, Symphyotrichum, Tenthredinidae
13 Comments
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
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Bucculatrix, cocoon, Gelis, Hymenoptera, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, Lepidoptera, moth, parasitism, parasitoid, wasp
8 Comments
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged alder, Alnus, Betulaceae, Bucculatrix, Bucculatrix locuples, caterpillar, cocoon, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth
5 Comments
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Abronia, Acanthaceae, Acmaeodera, Acmaeodera vernalis, Andrenidae, Asteraceae, bee, beetle, blister beetle, Boraginaceae, brittlebush, Bucculatrix, Bucculatrix sphaeralceae, Buprestidae, butterfly, checkered beetle, checkerspot, Cleridae, Coleoptera, Crambidae, Cysteodemus armatus, desert chicory, Encelia, Encelia farinosa, Eremalche rotundifolia, Eupompha elegans, Eurybunus, Fabaceae, flower, globemallow, harvestman, Hesperapis, Hymenoptera, Justicia, Justicia californica, Lepidoptera, Loasaceae, lupine, Lupinus, Lytta, Lytta auriculata, Lytta magister, mallow, Malvaceae, Megandrena enceliae, Melittidae, Meloidae, Mentzelia involucrata, Microtia dymas, Mimulus, Mimulus bigelovii, mining bee, moth, Noctueliopsis aridalis, Nyctaginaceae, Nymphalidae, Opiliones, Perdita, Phacelia, Phasmida, Phrymaceae, Pyraloidea, Rafinesquia neomexicana, sand-verbena, sawfly, Sclerosomatidae, Sphaeralcea, Sphaeralcea ambigua, Tenthredinidae, Timema, Timematidae, tiny checkerspot, Trichodes ornatus, walkingstick
16 Comments
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2016 Connecticut State BioBlitz, Agromyzidae, Aleiodes, Amelanchier, Argidae, aster, Asteraceae, bee, beetle, BioBlitz, black cherry, black locust, Braconidae, Bucculatrix, Bucculatrix angustata, caterpillar, Cerambycidae, Ceresa, Coccinellidae, cocoon, Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculionoidea, Cydia, Cydia nigricana, Diapheromera femorata, Diapheromeridae, Erigeron, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, flea weevil, Gracillariidae, Hymenoptera, Hypera, Hypera rumicis, lady beetle, larva, leaf mine, leafcutter bee, leafminer, longhorned beetle, Mantura, Mantura floridana, Marmara, Mathildana newmanella, Megachile, Megachilidae, Membracidae, Metriorrhynchomiris dislocatus, Miridae, Nematus, Nematus tibialis, Nemorimyza posticata, northern walkingstick, oak, Oecophoridae, Orchestes, Orchestes pallicornis, parasitism, parasitoid, Periclista, Phasmida, Polygonaceae, Propylea quatuordecimpunctata, Prunus, Prunus serotina, Quercus, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosaceae, Rumex, Rumex acetosella, sawfly, shadbush, snail, Sterictiphora, Strangalepta abbreviata, Symphyotrichum, Tenthredinidae, Tortricidae, treehopper, Viburnum dentatum, walkingstick, weevil
10 Comments
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, aster, Asteraceae, Braconidae, Bucculatrix, Diptera, Eulophidae, Fagaceae, larva, leaf mine, moth, oak, parasitism, parasitoid, Phytomyzidae, Quercus, Quercus rubra, red oak, Symphyotrichum, wasp
2 Comments
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Abutilon, Arizona, beetle, Bucculatrix, Chalepini, Chrysomelidae, cocoon, Hibiscus, Hibiscus denudatus, larva, leaf beetle, leaf mine, mallow, Malvaceae, moth, Stenopodius texanus
3 Comments
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
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
Posted in Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Bucculatrix, cocoon, egg, moth, parasitoid, Platygastridae, staring at walls, stink bug, Trissolcus, Trissolcus euschisti, wasp
3 Comments