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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: fly
A leaf-mining midge odyssey (Part 1)
Back in 2012, when I had only recently realized I needed to write a complete guide to the leafminers of North America and as a result Julia and I were driving around the US to find them all, we visited … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Balsaminaceae, Ceanothus, Chironomidae, Diptera, Eriodictyon, Erythranthe, exuviae, fly, Gelechiidae, Impatiens, jewelweed, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Limnophyes, Limnophyes viribus, Metepeira, Metriocnemus, Metriocnemus erythranthei, Metriocnemus eurynotus, midge, Mimulus, monkeyflower, Namaceae, Nepticulidae, new species, orbweaver, Phrymaceae, Phytomyza, Phytomyza eriodictyi, Plantaginaceae, pupa, Rhamnaceae, speedwell, spider, Tischeria, Tischeriidae, Veronica, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, water speedwell, web, Xenolechia ceanothiella, yerba santa
2 Comments
Behind Door #1…
When Julia was in high school, she built this little cabin in the woods behind her family’s house in central Ohio: One chilly morning last April, when we stopped there on our way to spending a week exploring the Ozarks, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ariadna bicolor, bee fly, Bombyliidae, Bombylius, Bombylius major, Bourletiella hortensis, Collembola, Diptera, egg sac, fly, globular springtail, Gracillariidae, Lepidoptera, moth, Phyllonorycter, Phyllonorycter celtifoliella, Segestriidae, spider, springtail, web
5 Comments
Dogwood Mysteries
As I go through my Leafminers of North America e-book and update each chapter for the (now nearly complete) second edition, I’ve been putting together a spreadsheet of mystery leaf mines that need further investigation. There are now over 700 … Continue reading
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Agromyzidae, Cornaceae, Cornus, Diptera, dogwood, fly, Gracillariidae, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, Nepticulidae, Phyllocnistis, Phytomyza, Phytomyza agromyzina, Phytomyza notopleuralis
4 Comments
Life in a Wingstem Stem
On May 8 last year, Julia and I visited her family’s land in Hocking County, Ohio (which we’ll be doing again today, as it happens), and for whatever reason, a little clump of dead wingstem (Asteraceae: Verbesina alternifolia) stems from … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Asteraceae, beetle, Brachistinae, Brachistini, Braconidae, Cecidomyiidae, Coleoptera, Diptera, Figitidae, fly, gall, gall midge, Hymenoptera, larva, Melanagromyza, Melanagromyza vernoniana, Mordellidae, Neolasioptera, Neolasioptera imprimata, parasitism, parasitoid, Platygaster, Platygastridae, pupa, puparium, stem borer, tumbling flower beetle, Verbesina, Verbesina alternifolia, wasp, wingstem
4 Comments
An Underexplored Microhabitat
Although most of what used to be my lawn is now an untamed meadow interspersed with gardens, fruit trees, and berry bushes, once a month or so I do break out the ol’ battery-powered lawnmower to maintain a network of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Coboldia fuscipes, Diptera, Drosophila, Drosophila busckii, Drosophilidae, Fannia, Fannia canicularis, Fanniidae, fly, larva, puparium, Scatopsidae
5 Comments
Introducing Haplopeodes loprestii
This leafminer business all started nearly ten years ago, in the fall of 2011. I had become fascinated with these tiny creatures while I was writing Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates a few years earlier, but it … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Abronia, Agromyzidae, Diptera, Fagonia, fly, Gelechiidae, Gnorimoschemini, Haplopeodes, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Liriomyza, Liriomyza trifolii, moth, new species, Zygophyllaceae
5 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 12
If you have somehow been keeping up with all these posts, you will recall that back in Episode 10 I found a sawfly larva on lady fern (Athyrium angustum) next to my house. Yesterday I stepped out the front door … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acrocercops astericola, Agromyzidae, Anacardiaceae, Antaeotricha, Anthomyiidae, aster, Asteraceae, Athyrium, Chirosia, Chirosia pusillans, Cicadellidae, Depressariidae, Diptera, egg, fern, fly, Gracillariidae, Hymenoptera, Impatiens, Impatiens capensis, interrupted fern, jewelweed, lady fern, larva, leaf mine, leafhopper, moth, Osmunda, Osmunda claytoniana, Osmundaceae, Phytoliriomyza melampyga, Rhus, Rhus typhina, sawfly, staghorn sumac, sumac, Symphyotrichum, Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, Tenthredinidae
6 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 11
Now that I’ve declared my intention to find as many sawfly larvae as possible, they’re starting to show up everywhere I look. Today Julia and I made a rare trip away from home, lured by the news from my mother … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Agromyzidae, Amelanchier, Aphrophoridae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Betula, Betulaceae, birch, black cherry, butterfly, casebearer, Coleophora, Coleophora pruniella, Coleophoridae, Colias, Collembola, Daucus carota, Diptera, Dolerus, egg, Epermenia, Epermenia albapunctella, Epermeniidae, flesh fly, fly, fox grape, Galium, Galium mollugo, gall, globular springtail, goldenrod, gooseberry, Gracillariidae, grape, Grossulariaceae, harvestman, Heliopsis helianthoides, Heliozela aesella, Heliozelidae, Hymenoptera, larva, leaf roll, Lepidoptera, Liriomyza, Liriomyza arctii, Liriomyza eupatorii, Liriomyza galiivora, Opiliones, oxeye, Pamphiliidae, Pamphilius, paper birch, Parornix, Philaenus spumarius, Phyllocnistis, Phyllocnistis vitifoliella, Pieridae, Prunus, Prunus serotina, pussy willow, Ribes, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Salicaceae, Salix, Salix discolor, Sarcophagidae, sawfly, shadbush, Solidago, spittlebug, springtail, sulphur, Tenthredinidae, thrips, Thysanoptera, Vitaceae, Vitis, Vitis labrusca, wild carrot, wild madder, willow
12 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:Â 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
Willow Stem Galls
Swellings on willow stems can be caused by a variety of gall midges, sawflies, agromyzid flies, and buprestid beetles. In many cases I have no clue as to the identity of the gall inducer just from looking at a photo … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cecidomyiidae, chalcid, Diptera, Eurytomidae, Euura, fly, gall, gall midge, Hymenoptera, parasitism, parasitoid, Pteromalidae, Salicaceae, Salix, sawfly, Tenthredinidae, wasp, willow
1 Comment
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