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Tag Archives: Lepidoptera
Known Unknown or Unknown Unknown?
This 6-mm moth is a typical representative of the genus Cremastobombycia (Gracillariidae). Larvae form “underside tentiform” mines on leaves of plants in the aster family (Asteraceae). The mine starts out as a flat blotch on the lower leaf surface, then becomes … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Asteraceae, Cremastobombycia, Gracillariidae, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth
4 Comments
Another Progress Report (Goofing Off in the Desert)
Remember at the beginning of last year when I announced that I had finished making keys to the known leaf mines on every plant genus in the US and Canada? I noted that “this project can never really be finished, because … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Abronia, Acanthaceae, Acmaeodera, Acmaeodera vernalis, Andrenidae, Asteraceae, bee, beetle, blister beetle, Boraginaceae, brittlebush, Bucculatrix, Bucculatrix sphaeralceae, Buprestidae, butterfly, checkered beetle, checkerspot, Cleridae, Coleoptera, Crambidae, Cysteodemus armatus, desert chicory, Encelia, Encelia farinosa, Eremalche rotundifolia, Eupompha elegans, Eurybunus, Fabaceae, flower, globemallow, harvestman, Hesperapis, Hymenoptera, Justicia, Justicia californica, Lepidoptera, Loasaceae, lupine, Lupinus, Lytta, Lytta auriculata, Lytta magister, mallow, Malvaceae, Megandrena enceliae, Melittidae, Meloidae, Mentzelia involucrata, Microtia dymas, Mimulus, Mimulus bigelovii, mining bee, moth, Noctueliopsis aridalis, Nyctaginaceae, Nymphalidae, Opiliones, Perdita, Phacelia, Phasmida, Phrymaceae, Pyraloidea, Rafinesquia neomexicana, sand-verbena, sawfly, Sclerosomatidae, Sphaeralcea, Sphaeralcea ambigua, Tenthredinidae, Timema, Timematidae, tiny checkerspot, Trichodes ornatus, walkingstick
12 Comments
How It All Started
Today is an anniversary of sorts. The first weekend of August 2007, I was up in Vermont to perform at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival with my band, PossumHaw, which had formed while I was in grad school in Burlington. Before … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Anacardiaceae, aspen, Betulaceae, Cameraria, Cameraria corylisella, Cameraria guttifinitella, Corylus, Corylus americana, Gracillariidae, hazelnut, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, Phyllocnistis, Phyllocnistis populiella, poison ivy, Populus, Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, Salicaceae, Toxicodendron, Toxicodendron radicans
6 Comments
Cocoon Within a Cocoon Within a Cocoon
The diamondback moth (Plutellidae: Plutella xylostella) is a European species that is now found all across North America, the larvae feeding on various plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Apparently it’s considered a pretty serious pest, but I’d take it … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Brassica, Brassica oleracea, Brassicaceae, broccoli, Campopleginae, cocoon, Cryptinae, Diadegma, diamondback moth, Hymenoptera, hyperparasitoid, Ichneumonidae, Isdromas, Isdromas lycaenae, larva, leaf mine, Lepidium, Lepidium virginicum, Lepidoptera, moth, parasitism, parasitoid, peppergrass, Plutella, Plutella xylostella, Plutellidae, pupa
2 Comments
Hiding in Plain Sight
…would be a suitable title for any of the posts about tiny bugs that I regularly write here, I guess, but it seems especially appropriate in this case. The story begins in September 2012, when occasional BugGuide.net user Greg Dodge … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged chalcid, clover, Desmodium, Eulophidae, Fabaceae, Gracillariidae, Hemiptarsenus, Hymenoptera, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth, parasitism, parasitoid, Pnigalio, Pnigalio coloni, Porphyrosela, Porphyrosela desmodiella, Porphyrosela minuta, Sympiesis, Sympiesis sericeicornis, tick trefoil, Trifolium, Trifolium repens, wasp, white clover
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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
Quality Control
On June 22, I was doing botanical work in a shrub swamp in Southbridge, Massachusetts when I found this 5.5-mm larva on the underside of a highbush blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium corymbosum) leaf: I find little tents like this from time … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged blueberry, Depressariidae, Ericaceae, gold-striped leaftier, larva, Lepidoptera, Machimia tentoriferella, moth, pupa, Vaccinium
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