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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: Gelechiidae
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
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 5
Back on May 5, spring was cooking along; flowers were opening on the Virginia bluebells that I had completely forgotten we had planted among the ostrich ferns under the old apple tree last year. But a few days later we … Continue reading
The Yard List(s), Part 3
Spring continues to lurch along here in northern Massachusetts. This morning I woke up once again to the sight of fresh snow (though not a continuous blanket like last time), but in the meantime the daffodils, hyacinths, Scilla, and Forsythia have been blooming, … Continue reading
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
More Evening Primrose Moths
Two years ago I wrote about the striking pink and yellow moths I found resting on evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) flowers by my mailbox, and how I later found the caterpillars feeding on the young seedpods. That same summer, I … Continue reading
Progress Report
Today I reached a major milestone in my leafminer book project: I’ve now made keys to the known leaf mines on every plant genus in the US and Canada. To do this, I had to review the published natural history information … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Argyresthia, Argyresthia thuiella, chalcid, Coleotechnites, Coleotechnites thujaella, Copidosoma, Copidosoma bucculatricis, Copidosoma lymani, Encyrtidae, Gelechiidae, Hymenoptera, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, parasitoid, Thuja, Thuja occidentalis, wasp
10 Comments
Another Mystery Solved, Sort Of
At the beginning of this month, I reported having found these tied leaves on smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) plants in my backyard. On May 27, I had put three samples in jars on my desk to see what might emerge. On … Continue reading
Leafminers Awaken!
As I mentioned, on February 25 all the overwintering bugs got taken out of the fridge, and last night’s check of all the vials revealed the first two emergences. They both happen to have come from leaf mines in the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acrocercops, Acrocercops astericola, Agromyzidae, aster, Asteraceae, calico aster, chalcid, daisy fleabane, Diptera, Entedoninae, Erigeron, Erigeron annuus, Eulophidae, Eurybia, Eurybia divaricata, Gelechiidae, Gnorimoschemini, Gracillariidae, larva, leaf mine, moth, parasitoid, Phytomyza, puparium, Symphyotrichum, Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, wasp, white wood aster
3 Comments
Fixing the Lawn
When Julia and I first moved here in August, our front yard looked like this: Some people might not see anything wrong with this picture, but to me the only thing worse than a neatly mown lawn would be if … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Asteraceae, daisy fleabane, Diptera, Erigeron, Erigeron annuus, fleabane, flower, fly, Gelechiidae, Gracillariidae, larva, leaf mine, moth, Parectopa, Parectopa plantaginisella
21 Comments
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