Charley Eiseman

The first edition of Leafminers of North America is now available on a sliding scale, beginning at $5.00! For details, see: bugtracks.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/lea…

And congratulations to the other award winners, Adriana Corrales, Flavia Montaño-Centellas, Timothy J. Colston, and Zhengyang Wang! You can read a little about everyone's work on the Foundation's website. maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/charley-…

A huge thanks to the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation for this award in recognition of my work on leafminers! It will allow me to devote more time to making and sharing new discoveries about these and other underappreciated herbivorous insects.

@Bertonemyia This is Persicaria virginiana, but a similar pattern was found on an adjacent maple (inaturalist.org/observations/2…). The photographers have concluded that humans did this, but I don't see how that could be.

Here's a weird thing, anyone have an explanation? inaturalist.org/observations/2…

@smopper I'm sure these aren't leaf mines, which 1) would widen as the larva grows, and 2) wouldn't form closed loops like this.

@CSEiseman Possibly Agromyzidae leaf miners.

@BugStewart I'm certain these aren't leaf mines (the article you linked to is about me and my work, by the way)

@CSEiseman It’s a leaf miner of some sort, probably a fly larvae … nytimes.com/2022/09/28/rea…

@CMacQuar I feel like it has to be some kind of (viral?) disease, but I don't understand how it would make this pattern. The regularity of the pattern & the fact that it consists of closed loops makes any kind of animal feeding seem unlikely. Same pattern was found on nearby maple leaves.

Can anyone tell me whether this is honey mesquite (Neltuma glandulosa) or something else? I'm interested, of course, because a leaf mine was found on it... inaturalist.org/observations/1…

@adam_kranz @Foaming_Agent The katydid is Microcentrum, and the parasitoid is likely to be Anastatus. bugguide.net/node/view/4952…

@Foaming_Agent Looks like parasitoid-hit katydid eggs

Anyone know what’s going on with this twig? Eastern PA

@Bertonemyia Thanks Matt!

I've never tried to sex a drosophilid before, and I no longer have this specimen, but am I right that this Chymomyza amoena is a male? @Bertonemyia

@NKWhiteman Thanks again!

@NKWhiteman No problem, thanks for looking. Are you able to confirm the sexes of the specimens in my blurry photos above though?

@NKWhiteman I should be directing this question to you too...The S. pallida specimen is one I sent to Rick Lapoint for ID long ago when he was in your lab in AZ. I'm mentioning it in a paper, and I wonder if you have any idea whether it was kept, and if so where it is deposited.

Same question for this Scaptomyza pallida specimen. Guessing a male for this one as well.

And from what I can tell, scorpion stings are rarely fatal for adult humans, but trying to do my due diligence here...

Anybody good with scorpions? My niece's friend just got stung by this one in Kazakhstan and they want to know how worried they should be. iNat's AI is suggesting Mesobuthus.

@Bertonemyia Thanks! I just got some clarity on Eugaurax taxonomy, by the way!

Leafminer course in Maine this summer! For more information, see: eaglehill.us/programs/sems-…