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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: spider
A leaf-mining midge odyssey (Part 1)
Back in 2012, when I had only recently realized I needed to write a complete guide to the leafminers of North America and as a result Julia and I were driving around the US to find them all, we visited … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Agromyzidae, Balsaminaceae, Ceanothus, Chironomidae, Diptera, Eriodictyon, Erythranthe, exuviae, fly, Gelechiidae, Impatiens, jewelweed, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Limnophyes, Limnophyes viribus, Metepeira, Metriocnemus, Metriocnemus erythranthei, Metriocnemus eurynotus, midge, Mimulus, monkeyflower, Namaceae, Nepticulidae, new species, orbweaver, Phrymaceae, Phytomyza, Phytomyza eriodictyi, Plantaginaceae, pupa, Rhamnaceae, speedwell, spider, Tischeria, Tischeriidae, Veronica, Veronica anagallis-aquatica, water speedwell, web, Xenolechia ceanothiella, yerba santa
2 Comments
Behind Door #1…
When Julia was in high school, she built this little cabin in the woods behind her family’s house in central Ohio: One chilly morning last April, when we stopped there on our way to spending a week exploring the Ozarks, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ariadna bicolor, bee fly, Bombyliidae, Bombylius, Bombylius major, Bourletiella hortensis, Collembola, Diptera, egg sac, fly, globular springtail, Gracillariidae, Lepidoptera, moth, Phyllonorycter, Phyllonorycter celtifoliella, Segestriidae, spider, springtail, web
5 Comments
Backyard Bowerbird
This morning I heard some bluebirds twittering outside the window, so Julia and I took the cue to go out and clean out the nest boxes. The bluebirds’ nest from last year was a dense mass of pine needles and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged bird, bird sign, bluebird, Braconidae, cocoon, egg sac, house wren, ichneumon wasp, Ichneumonidae, Lepidoptera, Malacosoma, Mimetidae, Mimetus, nest, pirate spider, Polysphincta genus group, spider, tent caterpillar, Theridiidae, tree swallow
14 Comments
Spring Beauty Visitors
Narrow-leaved spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) is a rare species where I live, listed as Endangered by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. So it was a treat to spend the past week in Ohio, where in some places … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andrena, Andrena erigeniae, Andrenidae, ant, Atypidae, bee, Chironomidae, Claytonia, Claytonia virginica, Dialictus, Diptera, fly, Formica, Formica subsericea, Formicidae, Halictidae, Hymenoptera, Lasioglossum, midge, mining bee, Montiaceae, Orthocladiinae, pollinator, Prenolepis imparis, purseweb spider, Sphodros, Sphodros nigripes, spider, spring beauty, spring ephemerals, sweat bee
10 Comments
Is it just me…
…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
Silk on Stink Bug Eggs
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Brazil, chalcid, Edessa, Edessa expolita, eggs, Hymenoptera, jumping spider, Mexico, parasitism, parasitoid, Pentatomidae, Pteromalidae, Salticidae, spider, stink bug, Theodina, Theodina hespera, wasp, web
7 Comments
In Search of Snow Bugs
It’s been a slow winter for bug photography. Partly because my main outdoor activity has been shoveling the driveway every couple of days, and then shoveling around all the baby fruit trees whose vole guards were overtopped by snow. And … Continue reading
December Bugs
It’s been quiet here on the BugTracks front lately, as I’ve been devoting all of my computer time to working on the leafminer book. As a result, I’ve decided to take a break from “monthly mysteries” for the winter, since … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged beetle, Carabidae, Coleoptera, Collembola, crab spider, crane fly, Diptera, elongate-bodied springtail, Entomobrya, Entomobrya clitellaria, Entomobrya griseoolivata, Entomobryidae, Harpalini, Heleomyzidae, Hypogastrura, Hypogastruridae, larva, Orbellia, Philodromidae, Philodromus, spider, springtail, Trichocera, Trichoceridae, winter crane fly
7 Comments
Monthly Mystery #20: Mudball on a String
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
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Agroeca, egg sac, Gnaphosidae, ground spider, Herpyllus, Herpyllus ecclesiasticus, Liocranidae, Maine, Micaria, Micaria limnicunae, Nantucket, parson spider, spider
5 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 