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Tag Archives: Platygastridae
Celebrating Silky Willow
Simply not mowing the lawn, and welcoming whatever plants decide to grow in its place, has done wonders for the biodiversity of our yard. But we have also welcomed gifts of native plants from friends, and today I’d like to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ant, Caloptilia, Caloptilia stigmatella, cocoon, extrafloral nectary, Formicidae, genitalia, Gracillariidae, Ichneumonidae, larva, leaf mine, leaf roll, moth, Nematinae, parasitism, parasitoid, Phyllonorycter, Phyllonorycter scudderella, Platygastridae, pupa, Salicaceae, Salix, Salix sericea, sawfly, silky willow, Tenthredinidae, Thrinax, Thrinax dubitata, wasp, willow
5 Comments
Life in a Wingstem Stem
On May 8 last year, Julia and I visited her family’s land in Hocking County, Ohio (which we’ll be doing again today, as it happens), and for whatever reason, a little clump of dead wingstem (Asteraceae: Verbesina alternifolia) stems from … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Asteraceae, beetle, Brachistinae, Brachistini, Braconidae, Cecidomyiidae, Coleoptera, Diptera, Figitidae, fly, gall, gall midge, Hymenoptera, larva, Melanagromyza, Melanagromyza vernoniana, Mordellidae, Neolasioptera, Neolasioptera imprimata, parasitism, parasitoid, Platygaster, Platygastridae, pupa, puparium, stem borer, tumbling flower beetle, Verbesina, Verbesina alternifolia, wasp, wingstem
4 Comments
The Endless Diversity of Tiny Wasps, Continued
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, blueberry, Cecidomyiidae, Dasineura, Dasineura parthenocissi, Diptera, fly, gall, gall midge, goat's rue, Hymenoptera, larva, midge, Nantucket, new species, parasitism, parasitoid, Parthenocissus, Platygaster, Platygaster tephrosiae, Platygaster vaccinii, Platygastridae, Tephrosia virginiana, Torymidae, Trichacis, Trichacis virginiensis, Vaccinium, Virginia creeper, wasp
4 Comments
Why You Should Let Me Collect Bugs On Your Land With Impunity
Last year I posted some of my most interesting finds from the June 18 Berkshire BioBlitz on Mt. Greylock—at least, the ones that were most immediately visually interesting. There were several more significant discoveries that I didn’t want to write about … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, beech, Berkshire BioBlitz, Fagaceae, Fagus grandifolia, larva, Nematus, Nematus appalachia, new species, Platygastridae, sawfly, Sciaridae, Tenthredinidae
13 Comments
Giving Wasps Their Due
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged black cherry, Cecidomyiidae, Contarinia, Contarinia cerasiserotinae, Diptera, Eulophidae, fly, gall, gall midge, inquiline, larva, Lasioptera, Lasioptera vitis, Nantucket, new species, parasitism, parasitoid, Platygaster, Platygaster pruni, Platygaster uvulariae, Platygaster vitisiellae, Platygastridae, Prunus, Prunus serotina, Rosaceae, Uvularia sessilifolia, Vitisiella, wasp, wild oats
3 Comments
Sticky Plants
When you use a technical botanical manual to identify a plant, you will often encounter vague references to “glands” or “glandular hairs” on various plant parts, without any indication of the functions of these structures. Four years ago I wrote about … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Cerodontha, Cerodontha dorsalis, Chironomidae, Coccoidea, dark-winged fungus gnat, Diptera, Drosera, Ericaceae, fly, fungus gnat, Kalmia, Kalmia latifolia, midge, mountain laurel, Orthocladiinae, Phylloxeridae, Platygastridae, scale insect, Sciaridae, sticky plants, sundew, wasp
2 Comments
Wingless Wonderings
Over the winter I received a box of Nuttall oak acorns from Mississippi, containing cynipid wasp galls. Over the past couple of days, several of these tiny (~1.5 mm) wasps have emerged: The wings aren’t deformed; all of the wasps … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aprostocetus, aptery, Baeus, brachyptery, chalcid, Eulophidae, parasitoid, Platygastridae, Tetrastichinae, Trimorus
9 Comments
Stink Bug Egg Parasitoids
Back in May I shared this image of a platygastrid wasp guarding the stink bug eggs into which she had inserted her own eggs: A few days later, I found a cluster of stink bug eggs that were unattended, but … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged egg, parasitoid, Pentatomidae, Platygastridae, stink bug, Telenomus, Trissolcus, Trissolcus euschisti, wasp
9 Comments
Predatory Sawflies
In my last post, I showed a photo of a sawfly visiting extrafloral nectaries, and I alluded to another observation from the same day that made me wonder whether sawflies might benefit plants with extrafloral nectaries in the same way … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Berkshire BioBlitz, Diplazontinae, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, larva, parasitoid, Platygaster, Platygastridae, predation, sawfly, Tenthredinidae, Tenthredo, wasp
1 Comment
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