Upper Midwest Stem Insect Survey

Favorites

Synopsis

A selection of favorite photos from the survey. I am populating this page gradually as I sort through my photos. Click the image thumbnail for a larger version.

Image Gallery

the shiny black fly appears to dance as it holds its rear legs aloft while grooming — Image #: 1 Freshly emerged male adult Melanagromyza from Aralia. (0071)

orange elongate larva with head coiled and body stretched out in stem interior — Image #: 2 Slender lizard beetle larva in Achillea. (0010)

exceptionally long, thin larva, pale whitish with spade-shaped head capsule outlined in red — Image #: 3 Pseudopostega larva from Monarda. (0339)

the very long pale larva with rounded ends is stretched out straight inside the tunnel in the green stem — Image #: 4 Can you spot the agromyzid larva in this stem of Parthenocissus? (0359)

reddish beetle with rounded back and slender legs — Image #: 5 Mordellid reared from Bromus. (0109)

pale transparent shell with flared hornlike antennae projects from dark brown stem surface — Image #: 6 Pupal exuviae of cecidomyiid protruding from stem of Galium aparine. (0247)

straw-colored, pill-shaped puparium rests in hollow stem interior with exit window cut in wall of stem for adult fly's eventual emergence — Image #: 7 Puparium of Melanagromyza eoflacensis in stem of Cryptotaenia. (0179)

narrow larva with bullet-shaped front end and tiny black mandibles partially protrudes from hollowed-out stem interior — Image #: 8 Thrypticus in Elymus. (0207)

pale pupa with rounded front end and tapering posterior, tucked snugly in hollow in dead stem — Image #: 9 Mordellid pupa in Cirsium vulgare. (0151)

slender yellow larva with six very short legs and triangular mandibles, stretched out in tunnel in stem — Image #: 10 Mordellid larva in Rudbeckia. (0455)

long, thin orange larva with large rounded head capsule, six jointed legs, and curved urogomphi on rear end — Image #: 11 Acropteroxys gracilis larva in Rudbeckia. (0463)

caramel-colored, bullet-shaped pupal shell fills diameter of hollow brown stem — Image #: 12 Pupal exuviae of Papaipema sp. in Blephilia hirsuta. (0103)

black fly with large red compound eye and tapering iridescent blue abdomen — Image #: 13 Adult female Melanagromyza reared from Osmorhiza. (0352)

thick-bodied black fly with large red compound eye, perched with body tilted slightly downward on brown stem — Image #: 14 Adult male Melanagromyza reared from Osmorhiza. (0352)

brown pupal shell, with rounded front end split open, projects from smooth tan-colored stem surface — Image #: 15 Pupal exuviae of Endothenia cf. hebesana protruding from stem of Scrophularia. (0499)

yellow-orange, pill-shaped puparium, slightly constricted in the middle, with ends darker and reddish — Image #: 16 Puparium of Plethochaeta varicolor ex Maianthemum. (0324)

large hairy fly with gray thorax, orange abdomen, yellow-orange legs, and whitish head with large, round, reddish compound eye — Image #: 17 Plethochaeta varicolor, reared adult ex Maianthemum. (0324)

the brown stem has been cut squarely and the upper part has broken off; the top of the stump is sealed with a plug of frass — Image #: 18 Solidago stem stump created by larva of Hellinsia sp. (0517)

pale, ghostlike pupal shell protrudes from dark brown stem surface, with curved, hornlike antennae swept back from top of head — Image #: 19 Pupal exuviae of Neolasioptera cf. clematidis protruding from stem of Clematis virginiana. (0161)

bright yellow larva with knob-shaped posterior end, thick thorax, and small head tipped with dark red mandibles, resting in smooth-walled stem tunnel — Image #: 20 Hippopsis lemniscata larva in Ageratina altissima. (0675)

Page created: March 12, 2026. Last update: September 10, 2026