Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Plant-Bug Quiz.... Solved!

I recently posted this question:

Can you name the plant, and the bug that makes these markings? Should be easy!

Prem and Scott both suggested, correctly, that the bug that does this is a leaf miner. I apologize that I can't call out the exact type. Scott suggested that the plant is Aster cordifolius, (Heart-Leaved Aster), and that is correct. Good work Prem and Scott!

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4 comments:

  1. PremDecember 16, 2010 at 5:12 AM

    The bug is a leaf miner. I can't id the plant off-hand.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 16, 2010 at 6:06 AM

    Solidago flexicaulis

    ReplyDelete
  3. Scott NamestnikDecember 16, 2010 at 10:12 AM

    I agree with Prem that the insect causing damage to the leaf is a leaf miner. The plant looks like Aster cordifolius; the leaves don't seem broad enough for Solidago flexicaulis.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 22, 2010 at 1:09 PM

    I literally just today read the section in Charley Eiseman's Tracks and Signs of Insects on leaf mines and thought of this post. He has a picture on p. 337 that looks just like yours on heart-leaved aster made by an agromyzid fly, Ophiomyia quinta.

    ReplyDelete