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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: Lepidoptera
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
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
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged acorn, ambush bug, Amphibolips, Amphibolips quercusjuglans, Ceroptres, Crabronidae, Crossocerus, Cynipidae, Fagaceae, gall, gall wasp, Hymenoptera, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, inquiline, larva, Lepidoptera, moth, oak, oak plum, parasitism, parasitoid, Phymata, predation, Quercus, Quercus ilicifolia, Reduviidae, scrub oak, wasp
6 Comments
One Weird Inchworm
This morning I had a look around my yard after being away for the past week, and I met this fantastic creature on a leaf of one of our cultivated hazelnuts: Its body was awkwardly contorted, and it took me … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Geometridae, inchworm, larva, Lepidoptera, moth, Nematocampa
10 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
Fringed Loosestrife Fauna
Fringed loosestrife (Primulaceae: Lysimachia ciliata) is a common plant of moist areas that, I realize now that I’m starting to write this post, I’ve never bothered to photograph. But it has yellow flowers and is related to garden loosestrife; it … Continue reading
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Aterpia, fringed loosestrife, larva, Lepidoptera, loosestrife, Lysimachia, Lysimachia ciliata, moth, Primulaceae, Tortricidae
2 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
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