Peltigera (lichen) miners!

There are apparently dark-winged fungus gnats (Sciaridae) that mine in pelt lichens (Peltigeraceae) in Europe. @nealkelso found linear mines in a Peltigera in Minnesota, but the larva that came out of them turned out to be a midge in the genus Bryophaenocladius (Chironomidae).
photo of Bryophaenocladius mine in a Peltigera thallus
The larva is shown in this observation and this one too; so we know larvae are active in July, at least.
Neal has been using a "Lichen Miner" tag to keep track of Peltigera observations that show these mines, and they are all over North America:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Lichen%20Miner=yes
And he has noted a few other examples outside of iNaturalist:
https://www.waysofenlichenment.net/lichens/Peltigera/canina/Peltigera_canina-jason-20090813-57-32%251.jpg
https://www.waysofenlichenment.net/lichens/Peltigera%20canina
So far this midge species is known from just a single larva, and adults are needed to identify it--or describe it if it is new. So if you know where to find Peltigera, please keep an eye out for mines, and if you find them, collect the thalli to try and rear adults! Any larval or pupal remains should be preserved in alcohol along with the adult midges.
It's worth keeping an eye out for mines in other foliose lichens too; I'm told that mines of an unknown insect have been found on Sticta (also Peltigeraceae) in Panama.

Posted on March 2, 2024 10:25 PM by ceiseman ceiseman

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Just went through my obs of Peltigera and found at least 4 candidates; I'll keep an eye out this year and attempt to collect and rear

Posted by liamragan about 2 months ago

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