Category Archives: Solved Mysteries

Pine Needle Bananas – Mystery Solved!

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Charley Eiseman

Nine years ago this month, I published the first in a series of “monthly mystery” posts in which I wrote about nagging natural history mysteries with the hope that someone out there might have some answers, or at least suggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Uncategorized | Tagged Acantholyda, Acantholyda erythrocephala, egg, Hymenoptera, Pamphiliidae, Pinaceae, pine, pine false webworm, Pinus, Pinus strobus, sawfly, white pine | 1 Comment

In Search of the Lost Sawfly

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Charley Eiseman

Greetings to everyone who subscribed to this blog after my recent post about the inhabitants of a clump of sod in my front lawn! This one will take us a little farther afield. As most of you know, I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Amsinckia intermedia, Arizona, Asparagaceae, blue dicks, Boraginaceae, Dichelostemma capitatum, fiddleneck, larva, leaf mine, Prolatus artus, sawfly, Tenthredinidae | 3 Comments

A Hard-won Moth

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Charley Eiseman

You may recall that last spring I wrote a series of three posts that each highlighted something I hoped people would keep an eye out for; the last of these was a moth whose life history I had pieced together … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Uncategorized | Tagged Ageniaspis, Anurophorus, arrowwood, beetle, Brentidae, chalcid, cocoon, Coleoptera, Contacyphon, Encyrtidae, Entomobrya, Entomobrya nivalis, Entomobryidae, Eulophidae, Gracillariidae, Hymenoptera, Isotomidae, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, Marmara, Marmara viburnella, moth, Nantucket, Neapion, Neapion herculanum, new species, parasitism, parasitoid, Quadrastichus, Scirtidae, springtail, stem mine, Tetrastichinae, Viburnum, Viburnum dentatum, wasp, weevil | 20 Comments

Mailbag

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

People regularly send me photos of mystery objects and other bug-related phenomena to see if I recognize them. Often I’m able to respond with a precise (or approximate) identification, and that’s the end of it. Other times I’m intrigued by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Anthidiellum notatum, bee, butterfly, Cercyonis, Cercyonis pegala, chrysalis, common wood nymph, Diptera, Epicypta, fly, fungus gnat, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Megachilidae, Mycetophilidae, Nymphalidae, pupa, resin bee | 8 Comments

Updates On Some Mystery Moths

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Charley Eiseman

This month’s issue of the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society includes an article of mine* discussing two leaf-mining moths I’ve written about here previously. The first is an oak-mining eriocraniid that I had expected to be Dyseriocrania griseocapitella when I collected the … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Uncategorized | Tagged Acanthopteroctetes, Acanthopteroctetidae, chalcid, Colorado, currant, Eriocraniella, Eriocraniella platyptera, Eriocraniidae, Eulophidae, Fagaceae, larva, leafminer, Lepidoptera, moth, Nantucket, oak, parasitoid, Pnigalio, Quercus, Quercus gambelii, Quercus ilicifolia, Ribes, wasp | Leave a comment

A Complete Guide to Things That Eat Sea Lavender

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

Before I get started here, I wanted to point a few things out: 1. If you have an email subscription to this blog, I highly recommend clicking on the title rather than just reading the version that shows up in … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries | Tagged aphid, Gynnidomorpha romonana, larva, leaf mine, Limonium, Limonium carolinianum, moth, sea lavender, Staticobium, Tortricidae | Leave a comment

Bunchberry Squiggler Unmasked!

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Charley Eiseman

You may recall that back in September, I wrote about some mysterious squiggles radiating from the bases of bunchberry leaves: I rambled on about how I thought they must be caused by a species of Antispila (Heliozelidae), but not A. freemani, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Antispila, bunchberry, Cornus, Cornus canadensis, dogwood, larva, leaf mine, Lepidoptera, moth | 4 Comments

Buckeye Petiole Borer

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

Back in May, I posted a mystery I had encountered a week earlier involving caterpillars boring in petioles of Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra). I’ll copy and paste the relevant photos below, but for explanations you can check out the original post. … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries | Tagged Aesculus, Aesculus glabra, larva, moth, Ohio buckeye, pupa, Tortricidae, Zeiraphera claypoleana | 6 Comments

Monthly Mystery #17: A Mystery in Reverse

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Charley Eiseman

Normally with natural history mysteries, there is some unexplained object or pattern that I wonder about until I stumble across an answer in the literature, or failing that, I eventually manage to locate or raise the organism that is responsible.  But … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries | Tagged Dyseriocrania griseocapitella, Eriocraniidae, leaf mine, moth, Nantucket, oak, Quercus, Quercus ilicifolia, scrub oak | 5 Comments

Monthly Mystery #12: Sea Lavender Miners

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Charley Eiseman

I’ve just arrived on Nantucket, where this weekend I’ll be presenting at the 5th Biennial Nantucket Biodiversity Research Conference about my multi-year survey of gall-making and leaf-mining insects on the island.  So for this month’s mystery, I thought I’d feature a … Continue reading →

Posted in Solved Mysteries | Tagged leaf mine, Limonium, Limonium carolinianum, Nantucket, Plumbaginaceae, sea lavender | 3 Comments