Tag Archives: Hymenoptera

Hazelnut Sawflies

It’s normally a little disappointing to find an ichneumon wasp in one of my rearing containers, since that generally means I failed to rear whatever insect I was trying to rear. So when this one appeared yesterday… …I braced myself … Continue reading

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Carrot Stem Dwellers

Carrot (Apiaceae: Daucus carota) is native to Europe but widely cultivated and has become a ubiquitous weed in North America (also known as Queen Anne’s lace), so you’d think we’d have a pretty good handle on what bugs eat it … Continue reading

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Acorn Plum Galls (and friends)

Hey, this blog now has over 1000 subscribers! Thanks everyone for your continued interest in my esoteric natural history investigations. I’m still slowly working my way through the photos I took last summer, during which one of my several jobs … Continue reading

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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

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Pine Needle Bananas – Mystery Solved!

Nine years ago this month, I published the first in a series of “monthly mystery” posts in which I wrote about nagging natural history mysteries with the hope that someone out there might have some answers, or at least suggest … Continue reading

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Another Sawfly Surprise

I’m finally getting back to working on my guide to sawfly larvae, after a very busy field season followed by several weeks of focusing on writing papers—some of which have involved documenting new host records and previously undescribed sawfly larvae, … Continue reading

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Oak Shotholes

At the moment there are 648 observations on iNaturalist purporting to show the “oak shothole leafminer” (Agromyzidae: Japanagromyza viridula). Apparently I have personally verified 93 of them, in almost all cases based on the presence of leaf mines. Virtually all … Continue reading

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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

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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

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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

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