Monthly Archives: June 2020

Free leafminer webinar at 7PM EST!

In case you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and don’t get the occasional emails Noah Charney and I send out from our “Northern Naturalists” account, and haven’t subscribed to my leafminer book, and haven’t heard enough about leafminers from me through … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 16

Before I launch into listing the latest leafminers to appear in my yard, I have a request related to these mines I found on a grape leaf back on June 10: Linear mines on grape leaves are made by larvae … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 15

Lots of new things to report, as usual… First, I forgot to mention this leaf mine I found on Saturday (June 13) on the old apple tree by the chicken coop: This is so far an entirely epidermal mine: the … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 14

A couple of weeks ago, I ended a post by mentioning that I’d just cooked up some milkweed shoots, adding: …don’t worry, there is plenty left for the monarchs, and the milkweed tussock moths, and the large and small milkweed … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 13

It’s getting hard to do anything in the yard without bumping into another new leafminer or sawfly to document. #49: Nemorimyza posticata (Agromyzidae).  I found several mines of this species on Canada goldenrod (Asteraceae: Solidago canadensis) around the house yesterday and … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 12

If you have somehow been keeping up with all these posts, you will recall that back in Episode 10 I found a sawfly larva on lady fern (Athyrium angustum) next to my house. Yesterday I stepped out the front door … Continue reading

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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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Rhubarb Riddle

To make up for some of my recent extra-long posts, here’s one that’s short and sweet… If something involving rhubarb can be called sweet. The vast majority of email queries I receive are along the lines of, “here’s something I … Continue reading

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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

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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

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