Charley Eiseman will speak about leafminers — insect larvae that spend at least part of their lives feeding between the thin, outer (epidermal) layers of leaves — at the 14th Annual Berkshire Biodiversity Day, or Bioblitz.

In North America, leafminers include over 2000 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.

After a decade of reviewing the relevant literature, traveling throughout the continent, and collecting and rearing thousands of leafminers, Charley has completed a guide to the North American species that includes keys to the mines found on each plant genus. This slideshow presentation will introduce the major groups of leafminers, drawing all of the examples from among the 200+ species he found in his yard in 2020.

DATE: Saturday, September 23

TIME: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

LOCATION: April Hill (Greenagers), 62 N Undermountain Rd, South Egremont, MA

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
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 20 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; second edition, 2022), and an insect-themed blog called “BugTracks.” He has also published over 60 scientific papers on insect natural history, including the description of over 75 new species. http://charleyeiseman.com/

This presentation is one of many taking place during this year’s Berkshire Bioblitz that’s taking place on September 23–24, from noon to noon, at April Hill Education and Conservation Center, the headquarters for Greenagers. In addition to the presentations, there will be guided walks and demonstrations led by experts, all of which are free and open to the public. The four slideshow presentations, which range in topics from spiders to fungi, will each last for approximately half an hour and be followed by a Q&A. Click here to learn more about this program and other planned activities.