Sep. 3: NYC Labor Day Leafminer Walk
You're invited:
Join us from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, September 3, for a Labor Day Leafminer Walk in the Central Park Ramble. We'll start out at Belvedere Castle.
Above, mines created by the moth Chrysoesthia sexguttella in a leaf of common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album).
Leafminers are the larvae of moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies that live in between the cellular layers of leaves. This lifestyle offers them them protection from predators and a rich food source. These larvae create distinctive, visible patterns as they feed on cells inside the leaves. Well over 100 species of insects mine leaves in Manhattan, and more are being recorded each month—they are sorely overlooked by most naturalists, and many discoveries still await us.
All you really need to bring is your curiosity, but you can bring your smartphone or another camera if you want to take pictures of the leaf mines we find. We'll go over tips for photographing the mines and how to identify them. Plants are a big part of the story, too—most leafminers can only live on a few plant species. Other optional things you can consider:
—A small flashlight to light the mines from behind while you take a picture
—A magnifying glass or hand lens
—A notepad if you like making handwritten field notes
—Join the Leafminers of North America project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/leafminers-of-north-america
—Check out Charley Eiseman's digital leafminer guidebook here: http://charleyeiseman.com/leafminers/
We'll see you Saturday, September 3, at 2 p.m. starting at Belvedere Castle. RSVP with a comment below or a DM to me!
The first iNaturalist New York City record of mines created by the moth Phyllonorycter basistrigella on northern red oak (Quercus rubra), August 2022.
The mine of a fly larva, Ophiomyia parda, in an aster leaf (Symphyotrichum sp.).
Tagging a few of you who might possibly be interested, and please spread the word to others—all are welcome! @aberkov @ansel_oommen @applejaxs @ariolimax @arman_ @beniiiii @blkvulture @cathyweiner @cverwaal @dawnvla @elevine @elizajsyh @feathered @jfmantis @jholmes @jjadams @jrdnyc @kasimac @kenchaya @klodonnell @mattparr @mugglelissa @nycbirder @nycnatureobserver @pawelp @sadawolk @spritelink @steven-cyclist @susanhewitt @ursulamitra @xris @zahnerphoto @zihaowang @zitserm
Comments
Sounds like fun! I hope to be there.
see you there!
@matthew_wills
I finally got all my observations uploaded:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-09-03&order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&user_id=xris&verifiable=any
Since we frequently made multiple observations of the same instance of an organism, I tried to note those in the Description of each of my observations. I just created the Observation Field Duplicates Observation to capture this many-to-one relationship between observations.
In my current workflow, I upload all my photos to Flickr, and import from there into iNaturalist. I created an album of photos from the field trip, including some group shots! Enjoy.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/sets/72177720302116596
Thank you so much for the diligent work, @xris . And for a delightful walk, @djringer . Very good idea to create the "duplicate" field. This will help when we go out in groups. If a researcher wants to, s/he can ensure that a single organism observed by many people doesn't distort the record.
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