Tag Archives: Cornaceae

Can gall midges be leafminers?

The Leafminers of North America project I created on iNaturalist a few years ago has been an excellent way for me to collect new host plant and geographic distribution records for known leafminer species, as well as to identify new … Continue reading

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Dogwood Mysteries

As I go through my Leafminers of North America e-book and update each chapter for the (now nearly complete) second edition, I’ve been putting together a spreadsheet of mystery leaf mines that need further investigation. There are now over 700 … Continue reading

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Exploring Exotic Places

People are constantly telling me I should travel to the tropics, so I can see all the strange and exotic creatures there. I’m sure the tropics are very nice, but I’m perfectly content with the strange and exotic creatures in my … Continue reading

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Monthly Mystery #22: Bunchberry Squiggles

Last week I was back in Maine to finish up work on the natural resource inventories I’ve been conducting there.  On Tuesday, some reddish lines radiating from bunchberry (Cornus canadensis / Chamaepericlymenum canadense) leaf bases caught my eye. The first set of … Continue reading

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Green Islands

In Idaho at the end of September, 2012, Julia and I noticed some striking green spots on dogwood leaves that were otherwise senescing. As you may have noticed, each of them was centered along a major vein.  When we flipped … Continue reading

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Sawfly Connections

It’s always satisfying to meet some strange new insect, only to discover that it is another life stage of a very familiar one.  This has happened to me twice now with sawflies. In early July, I photographed this sawfly in … Continue reading

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Dogwood Hole Punchers

In anticipation of driving across Iowa last September, I asked John Pearson for some suggestions of places to stop and explore.  Thanks to him, I saw some interesting little prairie relics and a fen that I never would have found … Continue reading

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