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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: web
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
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
Cribellate Spiders, and Some More Thoughts on that Mysterious Thing from Peru
Photos of this intricate silken structure, to which I shared my immediate reactions here, have been spread around sufficiently that it’s pretty clear nobody (at least nobody with access to the internet) knows what made it. I did have another thought or … Continue reading
Posted in Unsolved Mysteries
Tagged Araneidae, Argyrodinae, cobweb spider, crevice weaver, cribellate, Filistatidae, Hypochilidae, kleptoparasitic cobweb spider, lampshade weaver, Mimetidae, Mimetus notius, Neospintharus trigonum, orbweaver, pirate spider, spider, Theridiidae, Uloboridae, Uloborus glomosus, web
23 Comments
Dill Moths (and others)
On Tuesday I noticed webbing at the tops of some dill plants in the garden, with moth pupae suspended within. Most webs had a single pupa, but this one had three: Investigating further, I saw that the developing seeds on … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acer, Acer saccharum, American chestnut, Apiaceae, Betula, Betula populifolia, birch, Cameraria, Castanea dentata, chestnut oak, Depressaria depressana, dill, Elachista, Elachistidae, Elymus, Elymus repens, Erebidae, evening primrose, Gracillariidae, gray birch, Haploa, Haploa clymene, leaf mine, maple, Mompha, moth, Nepticulidae, oak, Oenothera, Oenothera pilosella, Parornix, parsley family, Phyllonorycter, pin oak, pupa, quackgrass, Quercus, Quercus palustris, Quercus prinus, Quercus rubra, red oak, Stigmella, sugar maple, web
8 Comments
Kleptoparasite
This morning was a good time for insect photography–it was chilly enough that a lot of things that normally would have jumped, flown, or scurried away were sluggish enough that they let me get my lens right in their faces … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aphid, Argyrodinae, Caloptilia, Cicadellidae, cobweb spider, Coelidia olitoria, Drapetisca alteranda, filmy dome spider, Gracillariidae, harvestman, kleptoparasitic cobweb spider, leafhopper, leafminer, Linyphiidae, moth, Neriene radiata, Odiellus pictus, Opiliones, Phalangiidae, sheetweb spider, spider, Theridiidae, web
5 Comments
Spider vs. Spider
Recently a feather-legged orbweaver (Uloborus glomosus) set up its web in a space in the stone wall by my back door. These spiders aren’t very common in New England in my experience–I had to go all the way to Mississippi … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged feather-legged orbweaver, jumping spider, predation, Salticidae, spider, Uloboridae, Uloborus glomosus, web
3 Comments
BugTracks 