Tag Archives: Pteromalidae

Carrot Stem Dwellers

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Charley Eiseman

Carrot (Apiaceae: Daucus carota) is native to Europe but widely cultivated and has become a ubiquitous weed in North America (also known as Queen Anne’s lace), so you’d think we’d have a pretty good handle on what bugs eat it … Continue reading →

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Willow Stem Galls

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Charley Eiseman

Swellings on willow stems can be caused by a variety of gall midges, sawflies, agromyzid flies, and buprestid beetles. In many cases I have no clue as to the identity of the gall inducer just from looking at a photo … Continue reading →

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Life Lurking in Lousewort

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Charley Eiseman

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 →

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Silk on Stink Bug Eggs

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

Last week I got an email from a reader named Kelly in Brazil, asking if I could help unravel the mystery of these stink bug eggs (Pentatomidae) covered with silk: I was at a loss, and simply responded: “Interesting find… I’m … Continue reading →

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Arizona Oak Galls, Part 5

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

Here is yet another gall from Arizona white oak. It is another “oak apple,” superficially similar to these, which I now know to be Atrusca aggregata (thanks to Jim Zimmerman, who has studied southwestern cynipid galls for many years and … Continue reading →

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Fall Cleaning

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

The November before last I posted a picture of some wasp larvae a friend had found in the burrow of a wood-boring beetle larva while whittling by a campfire.  The following May, I posted photos of the adult pteromalids.  I suppose it was … Continue reading →

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Goldenrod Rosette Galls, Part 3

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

Last August I mentioned I was heading off to do some work in Maine and that I might bump into some more of the seaside goldenrod rosette galls that were only known from a single example I had collected on … Continue reading →

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Flies from a Goldenrod Leaf

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

As part of my survey of gall-making and leaf-mining species of Nantucket last summer, I collected a number of Elliott’s goldenrod (Solidago latissimifolia) leaves with mines like this one: Beginning three days later, agromyzid flies emerged from these mines over … Continue reading →

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Wood-boring Beetle Parasitoids, Part 2

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Charley Eiseman

Last November I posted a picture of some wasp larvae a friend had found in the burrow of a wood-boring beetle larva while whittling by a campfire: As I mentioned, I stuck them in the back of the fridge over … Continue reading →

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Bugs on Bluets

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Charley Eiseman

Yesterday afternoon I took a short walk before some much needed rain clouds settled over western Massachusetts.  I came to a patch of bluets (Houstonia caerulea), common wildflowers that often don’t seem to have much going on with them in … Continue reading →

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