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leaf miners on cottonwood These interesting little guys look like they attach themselves to the leaf's midrib. Geotagged,Summer,United States Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

leaf miners on cottonwood

These interesting little guys look like they attach themselves to the leaf's midrib.

    comments (5)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
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    Really awesome how the backlight lights them up so clearly. Posted 3 years ago
  2. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
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    Great photo! They might be Phyllonorycter sp. judging from the description in Leafminers of North America by Charley Eiseman. On page 1269, he states:

    "The larva initially forms a slender, serpentine to wedge-shaped, epidermal track on the lower leaf surface. By the third instar, this is enlarged to form an elongate blotch. The two subsequent tissue-feeding instars remove most of the palisade tissue, spinning silk that causes the mine to become tentiform and develop a single, longitudinal fold (or rarely two or three) in the lower epidermis. The granular frass is typically collected at one end of the mine and fastened with silk. Pupation is generally in a silken cocoon, often near the center of the mine."

    There are other genera that mine Populus, though. So, hmm.

    Link to Charley's website:
    http://charleyeiseman.com/leafminers/     Posted 3 years ago
    1. View Christine Young's profile
      Christine Young
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      ^ I'm not totally sure the description fits your leaf mines, lol. But, it might. Posted 3 years ago
      1. View morpheme's profile
        morpheme
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        It sure sounds close, if perhaps not exact. I wasn’t having much luck finding any photos that were even slightly similar. Posted 3 years ago
        1. View Christine Young's profile
          Christine Young
          Lion
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          I had that issue too -- I came across serpentine mines, mostly. But, then, I checked Charley's book and thought the description seemed close with the elongate blotches. Posted 3 years ago

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By morpheme

All rights reserved
Uploaded Aug 20, 2022. Captured Aug 19, 2022 14:10 in Urban Horticulture Fieldhouse, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
country flag of United States of America Explore United States of America 40,040 9,661 8
  • X-E2
  • f/5.6
  • 1/500s
  • ISO800
  • 80mm
Captured in the summer. More summer photos.

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