After overwintering in a Ziploc bag stored in my barbecue, I was excited to see the first of my Eurosta solidaginis fruit flies (Tephritidae) had emerged from its puparium this morning! This was my first attempt at rearing Goldenrod Gall Flies, so I wasn’t sure what sort of success I was going to have, but so far, so good. Now to wait and see if I get any surprises!
Eurosta solidaginis (Tephritidae), the Goldenrod Gall Fly
Today’s special guest blogger is Jess Vickruck, a PhD candidate at Brock University. Jess studies twig nesting bee diversity and the impacts of nest choice on their biology.
When I first started my master’s project, my intention was to look at how nest choice affected fitness in twig nesting carpenter bees (genus Ceratina, family Apidae). Little did I know that along with twigs full of bee larvae I would also get up close and personal with numerous uninvited house guests who all had one thing in mind – Ceratina are delicious! Although my supervisor continually reminded me that my thesis was about the bees and not the species that eat bees, I wrote up the data, and lucky for me it appears in the 2010 edition of the Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario.