Tag Archives: Nantucket

Monthly Mystery #21: Double Cocoons

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

On pages 219-220 of Tracks & Sign of Insects, I described the cocoon of Neurobathra strigifinitella (Gracillariidae) according to the account of Heinrich and DeGryse (1915)*. I then included a photo of a mysterious cocoon found on the underside of a sugar … Continue reading →

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Nantucket Moths

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

As you have probably guessed, my lack of posts lately has been due not to my having run out of things to write about (I don’t think this could ever happen to someone who spends any time observing insects), but … Continue reading →

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Monthly Mystery #20: Mudball on a String

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

Two weeks ago, as I began exploring the first of seven properties where I am conducting natural resource inventories this year for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, I noticed a little ball of mud hanging from a goldenrod leaf. I … Continue reading →

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Monthly Mystery #17: A Mystery in Reverse

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

Normally with natural history mysteries, there is some unexplained object or pattern that I wonder about until I stumble across an answer in the literature, or failing that, I eventually manage to locate or raise the organism that is responsible.  But … Continue reading →

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Spring Moth

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

You may recall that last spring I found a sawfly larva eating a distinctive pattern in a black cherry leaf, and was going to try to raise it.  Well, on June 17 I noticed a tiny inchworm (about 2.5 mm long) … Continue reading →

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Two-year Gall

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

This may be a pretty generic-looking gall wasp (Cynipidae), but it has an interesting history.  My first visit to Nantucket, in September 2011, was an intensive four-day survey with Noah Charney and Sydne Record in which we documented as many … Continue reading →

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Monthly Mystery #12: Sea Lavender Miners

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

I’ve just arrived on Nantucket, where this weekend I’ll be presenting at the 5th Biennial Nantucket Biodiversity Research Conference about my multi-year survey of gall-making and leaf-mining insects on the island.  So for this month’s mystery, I thought I’d feature a … Continue reading →

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Beggarticks Stem Dwellers

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

Last August, on one of my visits to Nantucket for my survey of gall-making and leaf-mining insects on the island, I spotted a conspicuous gall that was new to me, in a beggarticks (Asteraceae: Bidens) stem. I broke off the stem … Continue reading →

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Fairy Moth

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

The day before yesterday, at UMass Boston’s Nantucket Field Station, I saw my very first fairy moth (Adelidae), something I’ve been hoping to do for a long time.  Unfortunately, it flew away before I could get my camera out.  But … Continue reading →

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Sawfly Art

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

As soon I was done watching the molting spider yesterday, I turned around and saw this unusual pattern on a black cherry leaf: On close inspection, I saw (as you can plainly see at this level of magnification) that this pattern … Continue reading →

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