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Do you know your plants?
For my Leafminers of North America project, I periodically need help identifying hostplants I find in my travels. You can peruse photos of them at iNaturalist. Thanks!
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Tag Archives: Salicaceae
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
Down the Rabbit Hole
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
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Crambidae, genitalia, leaftier, moth, Nantucket, Pyraloidea, Pyraustinae, Salicaceae, Salix, willow
15 Comments
First sawflies of the season!
I took all my overwintering larvae and pupae out of the fridge on March 1, and so far two agromyzid flies, two scathophagid flies, two braconid wasps, two eulophid wasps, and seven sawflies have emerged as adults. Apart from the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aspen, Dolerus, Equisetum, Equisetum arvense, field horsetail, horsetail, larva, Nematinae, Populus, Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, Salicaceae, sawfly, Tenthredinidae
7 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 11
Now that I’ve declared my intention to find as many sawfly larvae as possible, they’re starting to show up everywhere I look. Today Julia and I made a rare trip away from home, lured by the news from my mother … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Agromyzidae, Amelanchier, Aphrophoridae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Betula, Betulaceae, birch, black cherry, butterfly, casebearer, Coleophora, Coleophora pruniella, Coleophoridae, Colias, Collembola, Daucus carota, Diptera, Dolerus, egg, Epermenia, Epermenia albapunctella, Epermeniidae, flesh fly, fly, fox grape, Galium, Galium mollugo, gall, globular springtail, goldenrod, gooseberry, Gracillariidae, grape, Grossulariaceae, harvestman, Heliopsis helianthoides, Heliozela aesella, Heliozelidae, Hymenoptera, larva, leaf roll, Lepidoptera, Liriomyza, Liriomyza arctii, Liriomyza eupatorii, Liriomyza galiivora, Opiliones, oxeye, Pamphiliidae, Pamphilius, paper birch, Parornix, Philaenus spumarius, Phyllocnistis, Phyllocnistis vitifoliella, Pieridae, Prunus, Prunus serotina, pussy willow, Ribes, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Salicaceae, Salix, Salix discolor, Sarcophagidae, sawfly, shadbush, Solidago, spittlebug, springtail, sulphur, Tenthredinidae, thrips, Thysanoptera, Vitaceae, Vitis, Vitis labrusca, wild carrot, wild madder, willow
12 Comments
The Yard List(s), Part 10
Yikes, I let more than a week go by since my last report on the yard lists. I guess I’m due for an update! First the leafminers… #32: Pegomya bicolor section (Anthomyiidae). On May 30 I saw the beginnings of mines … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acordulecera, Agromyza, Agromyza alnibetulae, Agromyza princei, Agromyzidae, Anthomyiidae, Argidae, ash, aspen, Athyriaceae, Athyrium, Athyrium angustum, beebalm, beetle, Betula, Betula papyrifera, Betulaceae, bigtooth aspen, birch, black cherry, black raspberry, Caloptilia, Caloptilia fraxinella, Calycomyza, Calycomyza menthae, cherry, Chrysomelidae, clover, cocoon, Coleoptera, Conotrachelus nenuphar, Curculionidae, Curculionoidea, curly dock, Dichanthelium, Diptera, dock, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, fern, fly, Fraxinus, Fraxinus americana, Glyphuroplata pluto, Gracillariidae, grass, Hymenoptera, lady fern, Lamiaceae, Landryia impositella, larva, leaf mine, Liriomyza, Liriomyza fricki, Marmara, Monarda, Monarda didyma, oak, Oleaceae, paper birch, pear, Pegomya, Pergidae, plum curculio, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Populus, Populus grandidentata, Prunus, Prunus serotina, Quercus, Quercus rubra, raspberry, red oak, Rosaceae, Rubus, Rubus occidentalis, Rumex, Rumex crispus, Salicaceae, sawfly, Scythrididae, Sterictiphora, Strongylogaster, Tenthredinidae, Trifolium, Trifolium repens, weevil, white ash, white clover
8 Comments
Willow Stem Galls
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cecidomyiidae, chalcid, Diptera, Eurytomidae, Euura, fly, gall, gall midge, Hymenoptera, parasitism, parasitoid, Pteromalidae, Salicaceae, Salix, sawfly, Tenthredinidae, wasp, willow
1 Comment
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
Moths From A Willow Leaf
Over the past few days, a break in fieldwork has given me a chance to start catching up on going through my photos from this year—I’m exactly five months behind at the moment. On March 19 I finally got to … Continue reading
Green Islands (Part 2), and Another Mystery Moth
(Note: For those who have already read yesterday’s post, I’ve added a little more information at the end after hearing back today from Jerry Powell, who described the genus Areniscythris in 1976.) Last January I wrote about the “green islands” … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aspen, Ectoedemia, Ectoedemia agryropeza, green island, larva, leaf mine, moth, Nepticulidae, new species, Populus, Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, Salicaceae, Salix, Salix pentandra, Stigmella, willow
6 Comments
Alpine Excursions
Yesterday a beautiful wolf spider I posted to BugGuide nearly four years ago finally got identified: Arctosa alpigena (Lycosidae). Although it was quite a while ago, I clearly remember taking that picture. I was standing on a cold, blustery ridge of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged alpine, American toad, Anaxyrus americanus, arctic hare, Arctosa, Arctosa alpigena, beetle, Beyond Ktaadn, Black-banded Orange, Boreal Long-lipped Tiger Beetle, Bufo americanus, Carabidae, Cicindela, Cicindela longilabris, Coleoptera, Epelis truncataria, Ericaceae, Geometridae, hare, Lapland Rosebay, Larix laricina, Lepus, Lepus arcticus, Les Monts Groulx, Maine, Mt. Katahdin, Newfoundland, Pinaceae, ptarmigan, Rhododendron, Rhododendron lapponicum, Salicaceae, Salix, spider, tamarack, tiger beetle, toad, Uapishka, willow, wolf spider
6 Comments
BugTracks 