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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: cocoon
Celebrating Silky Willow
Simply not mowing the lawn, and welcoming whatever plants decide to grow in its place, has done wonders for the biodiversity of our yard. But we have also welcomed gifts of native plants from friends, and today I’d like to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ant, Caloptilia, Caloptilia stigmatella, cocoon, extrafloral nectary, Formicidae, genitalia, Gracillariidae, Ichneumonidae, larva, leaf mine, leaf roll, moth, Nematinae, parasitism, parasitoid, Phyllonorycter, Phyllonorycter scudderella, Platygastridae, pupa, Salicaceae, Salix, Salix sericea, sawfly, silky willow, Tenthredinidae, Thrinax, Thrinax dubitata, wasp, willow
5 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 10
Yikes, I let more than a week go by since my last report on the yard lists. I guess I’m due for an update! First the leafminers… #32: Pegomya bicolor section (Anthomyiidae). On May 30 I saw the beginnings of mines … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acordulecera, Agromyza, Agromyza alnibetulae, Agromyza princei, Agromyzidae, Anthomyiidae, Argidae, ash, aspen, Athyriaceae, Athyrium, Athyrium angustum, beebalm, beetle, Betula, Betula papyrifera, Betulaceae, bigtooth aspen, birch, black cherry, black raspberry, Caloptilia, Caloptilia fraxinella, Calycomyza, Calycomyza menthae, cherry, Chrysomelidae, clover, cocoon, Coleoptera, Conotrachelus nenuphar, Curculionidae, Curculionoidea, curly dock, Dichanthelium, Diptera, dock, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, fern, fly, Fraxinus, Fraxinus americana, Glyphuroplata pluto, Gracillariidae, grass, Hymenoptera, lady fern, Lamiaceae, Landryia impositella, larva, leaf mine, Liriomyza, Liriomyza fricki, Marmara, Monarda, Monarda didyma, oak, Oleaceae, paper birch, pear, Pegomya, Pergidae, plum curculio, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Populus, Populus grandidentata, Prunus, Prunus serotina, Quercus, Quercus rubra, raspberry, red oak, Rosaceae, Rubus, Rubus occidentalis, Rumex, Rumex crispus, Salicaceae, sawfly, Scythrididae, Sterictiphora, Strongylogaster, Tenthredinidae, Trifolium, Trifolium repens, weevil, white ash, white clover
8 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 9
Things are really picking up now… First of all, I collected something from the arborvitae hedge at the end of the day yesterday that I didn’t get around to investigating until this morning. There were two of these little white … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acordulecera, Agromyza, Agromyza aristata, Agromyzidae, American elm, Anthomyiidae, apple, Argyresthia, Argyresthiidae, Asteraceae, beetle, Betula, Betula lenta, Betulaceae, birch, black birch, black raspberry, Castanea, Chalepini, Chalepus, Chalepus bicolor, chestnut, Chrysomelidae, cocoon, Coleophora, Coleophora comptoniella, Coleophora serratella, Coleoptera, Corylus, Cosmopterigidae, Cosmopterix, Cosmopterix gemmiferella, deertongue grass, Dichanthelium, Dichanthelium clandestinum, Diptera, elm, Fagaceae, fly, goldenrod, Gracillariidae, grass, hazelnut, Hymenoptera, Japanagromyza viridula, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Leucospilapteryx, Malus, Marmara, new species, oak, Orchestes, Orchestes mixtus, Pegomya, Pegomya rubivora, Pergidae, Phytomyza, Phytomyza solidaginophaga, Poaceae, Quercus, Quercus rubra, raspberry, red oak, Rosaceae, Rubus, Rubus occidentalis, sawfly, Solidago, Solidago canadensis, Solidago rugosa, stem mine, Sumitrosis, Sumitrosis inaequalis, Thuja, Ulmaceae, Ulmus, Ulmus americana
6 Comments
52 Wasp Pickup
Back on April 7, Noah stopped by to get some eggs and some seeds for his vegetable garden. Just as he arrived and Julia was walking up to meet him, she spotted a caterpillar with a tiny wasp on it. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Braconidae, caterpillar, chalcid, cocoon, Cotesia, Eulophidae, Eulophus, Euplectrus, Hymenoptera, hyperparasitoid, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, Itoplectis, larva, Lepidoptera, Leucania, Microgastrinae, Noctuidae, parasitism, parasitoid, wasp
10 Comments
Sawfly Surprise
As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’m starting to work on a hostplant-based guide to sawfly larvae that will be arranged similarly to my leafminer guide. In addition to reviewing the existing sawfly literature, I’ve been sporadically collecting larvae … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Arge, Argidae, Betulaceae, chalcid, cocoon, Corylus, Eulophidae, hazelnut, Hymenoptera, larva, Nantucket, parasitism, parasitoid, sawfly, Tetrastichinae
5 Comments
Mallow Munchers
Three years ago, Don and Mignon Davis described a new species of moth, Telamoptilia hibiscivora (Gracillariidae), whose larvae mine leaves of swamp rosemallow (Malvaceae: Hibiscus moscheutos) along the Atlantic Coast*. Specimens were known from Maryland, Louisiana, Texas, and adjacent Mexico, dating back … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Althaeus, beetle, Bruchinae, Chrysomelidae, cocoon, Coleoptera, Gracillariidae, Hibiscus, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Malvaceae, moth, Telamoptilia hibiscivora
1 Comment
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
Backyard Bowerbird
This morning I heard some bluebirds twittering outside the window, so Julia and I took the cue to go out and clean out the nest boxes. The bluebirds’ nest from last year was a dense mass of pine needles and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged bird, bird sign, bluebird, Braconidae, cocoon, egg sac, house wren, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, Lepidoptera, Malacosoma, Mimetidae, Mimetus, nest, pirate spider, Polysphincta genus group, spider, tent caterpillar, Theridiidae, tree swallow
13 Comments
Cup Plant Creature
At the end of June, Julia and I visited Marci and Jim Hess and explored some of their remnant and restored prairie in Lafayette County, Wisconsin. We were of course focusing on collecting leafminers, and I spotted something unusual on … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Asteraceae, Choreutidae, cocoon, cup plant, Lepidoptera, Silphium, Silphium perfoliatum, Tebenna, Tebenna silphiella
2 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
BugTracks 