Boston Flora

Tag: Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates

  • Wednesday, June 24, 7:00 pm – Life in a Leaf: The Wonderful World of Leafminers Webinar

    Join Charley Eiseman online on June 24 at 7 pm to learn the secrets of Leafminers, insect larvae that spend at least part of their lives feeding between the epidermal layers of leaves. This presentation will introduce the major groups of leafminers, as well as share some new discoveries Charley made in the course of completing his guide to the North American species that includes keys to the mines found on each plant genus. In North America they include over 2,000 species of moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies, belonging to over 50 different families. These insects are typically quite host-specific, and the form of the mine varies considerably depending on what insect produces it. As a result, it is often possible to identify the responsible insect using only the host plant and mine characteristics. 

    Charley Eiseman is a freelance naturalist based in western Massachusetts. He has been conducting plant and wildlife surveys and natural resource inventories throughout New England for over twenty years, as well as teaching courses and workshops on interpreting animal tracks and sign (both vertebrate and invertebrate). He holds an MS in Botany (Field Naturalist) from the University of Vermont and a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation and Management from the University of Massachusetts. Charley is the author of Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates (Stackpole Books, 2010), Leafminers of North America (self-published e-book, 2019), and an insect-themed blog called “BugTracks.” He has also published over 40 scientific papers on insect natural history, including the description of over 60 new species. http://charleyeiseman.com/

    Sponsored by the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. Free. Register here.

  • Wednesday, October 9, 7:00 pm – Native Plants as Insect Habitat

    Each native plant species has a suite of host-specific insects that depend on it for food.  Even allowing a single “weed” to grow in your garden can significantly increase its habitat value, and choosing to plant native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers will cause your yard to teem with life.  Using a number of common New England plants as examples, Charley Eiseman will introduce us to some of these insects, their natural history, and signs of their presence to look for on their host plants.  His close-up photos will provide an unusual perspective on the tiny animals that are going about their lives right under our noses. Charley Eiseman is a freelance naturalist, conducting plant and wildlife surveys for various nonprofits, state agencies, and universities throughout New England.  He has co-taught an “Ecology Through Animal Tracking” course in various incarnations since 2004, and since 2018 he has been teaching week-long field seminars on insect tracks and sign at the Eagle Hill Institute in Maine.  He holds an MS from the University of Vermont’s Field Naturalist Program and a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation and Management from the University of Massachusetts.  Charley is the lead author of Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates (Stackpole Books, 2010) and Leafminers of North America (self-published e-book, 2019), and he has coauthored over 30 scientific papers, including the description of over 60 new insect species. http://charleyeiseman.com/ . This lecture, on October 9 beginning at 7 pm, will take place at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street in Athol. Free and open to the public. For more information visit http://atholbirdclub.org.

  • Tuesday, November 9, 7:30 pm – Insect Signs

    Most of the signs insects leave are either overlooked or, when they are observed, seem difficult to decipher. Noah Charney and Charles Eiseman spent two years researching signs left by insects and how to read their tracks. The knowledge they gained is presented in their new book Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates. The authors will join the Cambridge Entomological Club for a presentation about insect signs and share interesting stories about their adventures gathering material for their unique book. Copies of the book will be available for purchase,
    and signing, after the talk.

    The meeting, on Tuesday, November 9 beginning at 7:30 in Room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street,  is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 6:15 PM for an informal dinner meeting at Harkness Commons, in the law school cafeteria on the  second floor.