#11: Charley Eiseman - Naturalist, Author, Innovator, and Leaf Mining Insect Specialist

My guest today is Charley Eiseman. Charley is the lead author of the innovative and fascinating “Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates”, which digs deep into the details of insect identification through the clues they leave, such as egg masses, cocoons, galls, burrows, leaf mines and more.

This initial treatment of leaf miners led him to his current 10 year obsession, learning about and documenting these specialist insects. Leaf miners are insects whose larvae live part of their lives in between the epidermal layers of leaves, each with fascinating life histories and survival strategies. There are thousands of leaf mining species of moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies. Despite being so prevalent, there was very little readily available information about them, that is, until Charley turned his sights on them. Over the last decade, Charley has turned himself into the foremost expert of North American leaf miners and created an 1800 page guide to the leaf miners, which is also referenced against their host plants.

This is a truly fascinating subject - leaf miners are literally everywhere, and serve as a creative "hook" to open people’s eyes to incredible nature that is easily overlooked. I’ve included several fascinating photos in the show notes that you have to see to believe. 

In this episode we discuss Charley’s background, the unique University of Vermont Field Naturalist Masters program, the challenges of breaking new ground in publishing Tracks and Signs of Insects, how he has identified and described 50+ previously undescribed leaf miner species, the process of documenting those discoveries, the process of rearing leaf miners at home to identify the species, and much more. Charley offers a few pearls of wisdom as well, including approaches to continuous learning and developing structure and deadlines for audacious goals like his 1800 page leaf miner guide.

Charley offers occasional webinars and online courses, so be sure to check out his bugtracks blog, or charleyeiseman.com to see his upcoming schedule.

LINKS
Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates - a wonderful guide book to insect behavior
Mammal Tracks and Sign - A Guide to North American Species - by Mark Elbroch, and Bird Tracks and Sign by Mark Elbroch were inspirations for Charley's Tracks and Sign of Insects
Leafminers of North America - by Charley Eiseman, a PDF guide
bugguide.net
A Hard-Won Moth - story of Charley's mystery viburnum leafminer, previously undescribed - and ultimately named Marmara viburnella
Bugs In Winter - Charley's upcoming online class
Noah Charney - co-author of Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates
John Carlson, MD - entomologist who  contributed a chapter on "sign of insects on vertebrates" such as stings and bites
Paul Rezendes - his mammal tracking class helped cement Charley's "follow the trail of things you don't know well" approach
Owen Lonsdale - PhD who helps Charley document new species
Dave Smith - Smithsonian sawfly expert

Music: Kevin MacLoed