Introducing Urodeta conocarpi (Elachistidae), a new leaf-mining moth from Florida and the Caribbean: bugtracks.wordpress.com/2025/08/24/a...

This is an unknown--probably undescribed--species that makes a frass-filled mine on Populus trichocarpa in western North America. Adults haven't yet been reared. Larvae can be found from late July to mid-October. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

I have a recurring problem where I can't get rid of the Search Results box when viewing a PDF in @adobe.com Acrobat. Anyone know how to fix this? Also, any way I can make everything AI-related go away, completely and forever?

Any guesses what this says?

An apparent case of xenophagy: This leaf mine on dogbane—a plant that normally has no leafminers—was made by a Phyllocnistis species, almost certainly P. populiella, which normally mines in aspen leaves. Normally when an egg is laid on the wrong kind of leaf, the larva dies in an early instar...

What's my best option for a low- (or no- ?) cost open-access journal, with quick turnaround, for a short paper on insect taxonomy?

Anyone going to be in southern Arizona or Mexico this summer? Someone needs to rear this mystery moth on Mirabilis longiflora! Larvae have been found from mid-August to early September; the known sites are shown here: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Just escorted this redstart out of my garage.

Something mining in sea lettuce (Ulva)?! www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Beetles of the Brachys aerosus complex (Buprestidae) reared from leaf mines on 16 different host plants.

One of the fanciest North American leaf mines made by a beetle.

Anyone recognize these things found on/in a flower petal in Alaska? www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Anyone have a way of preventing tiny insect specimens stored in alcohol from shriveling when dried, that does not involve soaking in some toxic chemical?

Phyllocnistis sp. feeding in a subcuticular mine on a Populus trichocarpa leaf. They have a liquid diet, and I think their mandibles are somewhat like canopeners to pry the top off of parenchyma cells. #bugsky #moths #lepidoptera #insects

Oh, how I wish someone would rear this unknown Agromyza species on ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor). Now is the time to look for larvae. You can find them anywhere from British Columbia to New Mexico. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

First Orchestomerus eisemani mine of the season! www.inaturalist.org/observations... (this is the species whose mine is the banner on my profile page, and the adult weevil is my profile pic)

Going a little overboard illustrating my paper on rearing records for eulophid wasps. Here are females (left) and males of Chrysocharis polita, C. polyzo, C. prodice, and C. pubicornis, all reared from leafminers. Each is about 1 mm long.

This little black fly is much more exciting than you might think.

Can anyone tell me what this ornamental succulent is (found in southern California, with a leaf mine of interest)? www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Some photos of a Bucculatrix larva spinning its fancy ribbed cocoon.

Not too early to find leafminers in Vermont! At least eight larvae of Bucculatrix staintonella in this one aster leaf: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

A little (probable) Limnophyes viribus feeding inside a leaf mine made by (probable) Metriocnemus erythranthae, in Erythanthe in Oregon.. The frass of the Metriocnemus seems to be obstacles for little Limno. #chironomids are so cool! #diptera #insects #bugsky.

Just realized these leaf mines found on a geranium in Toronto four years ago are probably the first (and so far only) North American record of Agromyza nigrescens, a European species: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

It’s not the head, it’s the butt! Meet a completely unknown organism: a blow fly (Calliphoridae) that evolved social integration in termite nests using a false termite head in the posterior part of the body. @CurrentBiology www.cell.com/current-biol...

A 1903 paper records "Hypericum fruticosa" as a host plant for a moth found in Washington, DC. It appears that this has never been a valid name for any plant. Does anyone know what it refers to? I have a hypothesis, but I'm looking for confirmation, ideally with a literature reference.

It's already time to start looking for the mystery leafminer on Pacific hound's tongue! I suspect it's Agromyza canadensis, which makes similar mines on other Boraginaceae, but someone needs to rear adults to confirm. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

This tiny leafminer I found by accident nearly two years ago got a DNA result back today. Thanks @ceiseman.bsky.social !! www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Found a dead moth in a cryptically labelled bag of leaves yesterday and decided to use it for dissection practice. It appears to be the "batman moth" (Tortricidae: Coelostathma discopunctana); no idea where it came from.

Just inventoried the results of my Agromyzidae rearing efforts since 2011: 1497 vials of successfully reared agromyzid flies, and 1986 vials of hymenopteran parasitoids. Many of these vials contain multiple individuals from the same collection event, but this give a rough idea of parasitism rate.

This stylish little beetle (3-7 mm) is the Goldenrod Leaf Miner, Microrhopala vittata. I illustrated it as part of project to highlight the fauna associated w/ goldenrod, my favorite wildflower and a biodiversity superhero. The beetles rely on goldenrod for all of their life stages. #sciart 1/5 👇

Conspicuous leaf mines of Phyllocnistis vitifoliella, along with the much subtler mines of P. vitegenella, together on the same grape leaf: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

You can often ID mantis egg cases (oothecae) by their shapes, and this lucky find shows 2 of the 4 (?) non-native species in the U.S., Tenodera sinensis (Chinese mantis) and Tenodera angustipennis (narrow-winged mantis). #mantodea #insects #inaturalist #entomology www.inaturalist.org/observations...

I think a lot of people are intimidated by the 150 couplets in my key to leaf mines on oaks, but @bsky.cigazze.com shows it can be done! www.inaturalist.org/observations...

A mine of a tischeriid moth with a mine of a gracillariid moth on the underside, just to keep us on our toes. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

This chironomid midge larva joins a weevil species and multiple ephydrid fly species in deciding that a duckweed thallus isn't too small to live inside: www.inaturalist.org/observations... (found by @cosmopterix.bsky.social)

Thought this was a nice scene: an orbweaver (probably Araniella displicata) has spun its web across the gap in a scrub oak leaf produced by a caterpillar's feeding, and there are some Coptodisca leaf mines at upper right (one aborted, one with feeding larva, and one with pupal case already cut out).

Here's a good one--I think these are the never-before-seen leaf mines of Bucculatrix solidaginiella, which bores in the tips of goldenrod shoots in spring. Its close relative B. cuneigera makes mines like this on Symphyotrichum leaves in the fall... www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Comparison of the nondescript (but consistently distinguishable) blotch mines of Cameraria (a gracillariid moth, L) and Profenusa (a tenthredinid sawfly, R) on scrub oak. If you look closely there's also a mine of another moth at the edge of the left leaf (Nepticulidae: Stigmella saginella group).

Does anyone know where in the world I can buy 6 mm coverslips for slide mounting tiny tiny things? And how about euparal and euparal essence (I found one place that sells these, but won't sell to unaffiliated people or ship to the USA)?

@stephenbheard.bsky.social A grammar question that I bet you have an informed opinion about: "Cecidomyiidae is thought to be the world’s most speciose insect family" or "Cecidomyiidae are..."?

Anyone out there have experience sending insect specimens internationally via USPS? I'm wondering what tariff code to choose--none of the options in the dropdown menus are remotely appropriate, and there is no "other" option. I've shipped to lots of countries and this has never come up before.

I first found a leaf mine like this in 2011. It took me 5 years to figure out how to rear a few adults, which turned out to represent a new species, which I described with Don Davis in 2017. Pretty cool to now be able to post a photo of a mine on iNaturalist and have the computer ID it correctly.

Hard to capture with a phone, but one of my very favorite things is the way some gall midges (Cecidomyiidae) like to hang by their front legs from spider webs.

Dolerus sp. sawfly larva munching on field horsetail (Equisetum arvense), 8/16/2024.

Evening dewdrops on jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), 8/14/2024.

This looks like a cozy place to live: a gall of Phylloteras poculum (Cynipidae) on dwarf chestnut oak (Quercus prinoides). This wasp was originally described as a midge (Cecidomyia poculum), back when you could get away with describing a species based only on the gall it causes. Those were the days.

Some more mutants. Partridgeberry (Rubiaceae: Mitchella repens) normally has four-petaled flowers in pairs (giving rise to a single fruit), but here are two views of a single five-petaled flower, and one of a single seven-petaled flower.