Tag Archives: thrips

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

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Monthly Mystery #21: Double Cocoons

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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Monthly Mystery #14: Holes and Tunnels in Agave Leaves

On page 302 of Tracks & Sign of Insects, there is a photo of a fleshy yucca leaf riddled with holes, next to a close-up of the eggs Noah found in one of the holes.  As explained in the text, after … Continue reading

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Monthly Mystery #3: Covered Egg Mass

I didn’t mean to make two “what the heck is this?” posts in a row, but it’s the first of the month and therefore time for another Monthly Mystery.  This one is an egg mass I found on a manzanita … Continue reading

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Bugs on Bluets

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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Tiny Things With Frilly Wings

On a recent crawl through the woods near my house, a white and thoroughly nondescript bracket fungus caught my eye.  It was so plain-looking that I didn’t imagine I would ever know its name, but looking in George Barron’s Mushrooms … Continue reading

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Forked Fungus Beetles

I’ve always been a big fan of artist’s fungus (Ganoderma applanatum), also known as artist’s bracket or artist’s conk.  This shelf fungus is so named because if you scratch the white lower surface, dark marks are produced, and these are … Continue reading

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