wood block

Irregular reddening of leaf caused by rose rosette disease

bright red shoots emerging in the spring

Witches' broom of rose rosette disease (yellow stems), heavily affected by powdery mildew

symptomatic inflorescence (red pannicle, accompanied by normal flowers on healthy foliage (a separate plant)

diseased stem on left with an enlarged thorny stem; normal stem and flower on right

ventral surface near head end as seen by the Scanning Electron Microscope; the mite is about 50 microns wide at the genital coverflap

dorsal shield of female showing the distinctive pattern that identifies this mite as seen by the Scanning Electron Microscope

dorsal shield of female as seen in the light microscope, using phase contrast microscopy

three females in a dissecting tray; the left female is about 2 mm long

hypanthia or hips

A dissected hip: the soft fruit shell is on the right (typical of mid-November), five normal-sized seed are at the upper left, and three "dwarf" seed, representing unpollinated ovules at the lower left; note the abundant, sharply tapered fibers that are always present in the hip; they irritate the digestive tract of song birds, causing the seed to move quickly through the gut (in just a few hours).

ovipositing female, inserting her ovipositor near the edge of the dried inflorescence

dissected seeds showing larvae and a pupa that were inside (May)

a mating pair on a leaflet (May); the male is the smaller, upper beetle

girdled cane caused by larva (August); the oviposition site is at the right edge of the girdle; the cane will probably die distal to the girdle

a "flag" caused by the break of a cane at the girdle (August)

close up of girdle and broken cane

map of known distribution in the USA