Tag Archives: Nantucket

Down the Rabbit Hole

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Charley Eiseman

I’ve managed to study insects intensively for over a decade, writing two books and publishing over 50 scientific papers that included the descriptions of 76 new species and one new genus, without ever learning to dissect anything. I have relied … Continue reading →

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Sawfly Surprise

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Charley Eiseman

As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’m starting to work on a hostplant-based guide to sawfly larvae that will be arranged similarly to my leafminer guide. In addition to reviewing the existing sawfly literature, I’ve been sporadically collecting larvae … Continue reading →

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Pesky Parasitoids, Part 3

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Charley Eiseman

First, another quick update on the leafminer book. Some people have asked if there’s a way to get it without recurring monthly payments, and/or by writing a check rather than going through Patreon. At the same time, Patreon recently announced … Continue reading →

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The Endless Diversity of Tiny Wasps, Continued

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Charley Eiseman

A couple of months ago I gave a sneak preview of some new species I found during the 2016 Berkshire BioBlitz on Mt. Greylock. One of them now officially has a name, thanks to a paper that was just published … Continue reading →

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A Hard-won Moth

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Charley Eiseman

You may recall that last spring I wrote a series of three posts that each highlighted something I hoped people would keep an eye out for; the last of these was a moth whose life history I had pieced together … Continue reading →

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Giving Wasps Their Due

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

I often see pie charts like this one suggesting that about a quarter of all insect species are beetles. Suspiciously, other sources (e.g. here) say beetles represent about a quarter of all animal species, and Wikipedia goes so far as to say … Continue reading →

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Things To Look For This Spring, Part 3

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

First, a quick update on the hackberry galls: Mike Palmer has found a bunch of them in Oklahoma, and in fact they may already all have been abandoned there. Some of them have holes near the base, and others have … Continue reading →

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Updates On Some Mystery Moths

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

This month’s issue of the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society includes an article of mine* discussing two leaf-mining moths I’ve written about here previously. The first is an oak-mining eriocraniid that I had expected to be Dyseriocrania griseocapitella when I collected the … Continue reading →

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Is it just me…

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

…or does this jumping spider look like it’s driving a truck, with its left hand on the wheel and its right arm dangling lazily out the window? It had taken up residence in a dragonfly naiad’s shed skin along the … Continue reading →

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Introducing Megaselia nantucketensis

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

In my ongoing survey of gallmakers and leafminers on the island of Nantucket, I have been trying where possible to verify the identities of these insects by actually rearing them to adults. And so in May of 2012, I collected … Continue reading →

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