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Photo#894259
Heliozelidae, Shield Bearer Moth, blotch leaf mine on Grape - Antispila

Heliozelidae, Shield Bearer Moth, blotch leaf mine on Grape - Antispila
Prairie Haven, Buffalo County, Wisconsin, USA
August 27, 2009
August 24, 2009: collected
September 16, 2009: rats! Finally decided to cut open the hard spot at the end of the blotch (since the blotch appeared ripped open) thinking there might be a pupa in the hard spot. But NO, a live larva.
March 31, 2010: larva still alive
June 11, 2010: cleaning up, checking closely, found a Lep pupa far enough along to see the moth

Images of this individual: tag all
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Moved
Moved from Unidentified Leaf Mines.
Do these photos all depict the same pupal case?

 
Yes they do.
And I double checked before cropping. However, I did not record where the moth pupa came from. It didn't show up until I was cleaning up at the end at which time I would have picked at all the parts.

 
Larva
I'm pretty sure the larva is an Antispila prepupa, and that's certainly an Antispila mine and pupa, so if there was only mine, there is no way the larva/prepupa could be a parasitoid.

 
REALLY?
Golly, I was just sure positive (Not that I would know, obviously) that was a parasitoid larva that ate the cat. But very cool and now I really want to find another one.

 
Antispila spp
These Antispila grape miners (and the Virginia creeper ones too) are confusing species complexes that need revising, and they probably will eventually be distinguishable by their leaf mines, but lots more rearing needs to be done. So definitely press and save any leaf mines you collect (after the larva cuts out its pupal case), as well as the adults--and of course keep track of which adult goes with which mine.

 
Thank you for figuring this out.
I guess I now know where the pupa came from!

Also, is there a page on BG where there are postings such as yours above? That puts out a call for what is needed, what to look for, who to contact? Even if just 1 or 10 folks actually find material/individuals, it could help. Or might that not be a good idea?

 
Well...
I started a page with that idea at one point (here), but there's just so much left to learn that I gave up. I'm putting together a "complete" guide to North American leafminers right now, and when that's done you'll find that for pretty much any plant genus, there are some things that further rearing would help to clarify. As for these grape miners, the most up-to-date information on them is here (1).

In the meantime, I'll keep mentioning things like this as they come up.

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