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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
Green Wasps from a Green Island
Last October I picked up a fallen black cherry (Prunus serotina) leaf from my yard because it had a good example of the “green island” phenomenon I’ve written about here and here. Apparently, endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria in certain leaf-mining larvae … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged black cherry, chalcid, Chrysocharis, Eulophidae, Gracillariidae, green island, Hymenoptera, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, parasitism, Phyllonorycter, Phyllonorycter propinquinella, Prunus, Prunus serotina, pupa, Rosaceae, wasp
5 Comments
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
Adventures in Taxonomy
Apparently today is “Taxonomist Appreciation Day,” so I suppose it’s an appropriate time to write a little something about my latest paper, which I discovered had been published right after I clicked “publish” on my previous blog post. I never … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Annette F. Braun, Arbutus, Arbutus arizonica, Cameraria, Caprifoliaceae, Ericaceae, Fagaceae, Gracillariidae, honeysuckle, Lepidoptera, Lonicera, madrone, moth, Notholithocarpus, oak, Phyllonorycter, Quercus, Quercus hypoleucoides, snowberry, Symphoricarpos, tanoak
1 Comment
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
Introducing Grapholita thermopsidis
Almost every year since we bought our house, Julia and I have spent a few weeks on a road trip in search of exciting new leafminers. At this point we’ve visited nearly every US state and two Canadian provinces. This … Continue reading
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
Swallowtail Surprise
I’ve made it up to the end of August in my photo sorting, which means I’m now going through all the pictures I took over the two days Julia and I spent surveying for leaf-mining moths at Black Rock Forest … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged butterfly, caterpillar, larva, Lepidoptera, Papilio, swallowtail, tiger swallowtail
4 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
Life Lurking in Lousewort
Not long after we started to let our lawn go wild, a couple of blue-eyed grass plants (Sisyrinchium montanum) popped up in one area. Blue-eyed grass owes its name to its grass-like leaves; it is actually in the iris family … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, blue-eyed grass, Cecidomyiidae, Chloropidae, Clinodiplosis, Diptera, Endothenia, Endothenia hebesana, flower, fly, frit fly, gall midge, Gimnomera, Gimnomera cerea, Hymenoptera, Iridaceae, Lamprotatus, Lepidoptera, lousewort, Lyrcus, Orobanchaceae, parasitism, parasitoid, Pedicularis, Pedicularis canadensis, Phytomyza, Pteromalidae, puparium, Scathophagidae, Sisyrinchium, Tortricidae, wasp
4 Comments
