Found in an office
Observed while monitoring MP1, black oystercatcher pair along the coast of Asilomar coastal trail, just southeast of the gazebo. It was a young weasel. I had observed an adult in the area just north of the rock house, 6 months prior.
On Mertensia virginica. Photos 4 and 5 are of the underside of leaf with sunlight shining through.
Acmon blue larva tended by carpenter ants on seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium) in Santa Barbara County, California.
In May 2007, Rita Carratello & I decided to go look for Exclamation Damsel in Monterey County (as its range in the literature went south to adjacent Santa Cruz Co.), and chose the Monterey County end of the old Walker Street bridge. ... and we found a population there! There are other subsequent records in this vicinity, but this was the first. It is archived & vetted in Odonata Central at OC#7664.
Likely a mountain lion (Puma concolor) kill
Legs distinctly bicolored, fore-tibia ringed white, abd 1 white, at least one tergite behind abd 1 entirely or partially white, abd 1 & 2 and abd 4 & 5 differ in coloration; scutellar bristles not spine-like, fore-tibia with apical black band stronger than basal band, abd 1 & 4 entirely white, white color extending over anterior fourth of abd 2 & 5, 1A extending far beyond fCu, wings with red-purple-blue reflections. Boesel, 1983.
Found flying and then perched while wading in the knee-deep Carmel River, searching for birds in riparian habitats. I posted this to CalOdes: "I posted this on CalOdes: "The male darner had prominent yellowish-green thoracic strips, and another pair atop the thorax; a greenish-white face; dark grayish eyes;
many large blue spots atop abdomen and a pair of small ones on s10; and odd-looking appendages that I could not get an adequate angle at to resolve." Various experts agreed this was Paddle-tailed Darner: the record is archived & vetted at Odonata Central, at OC#440661, where more information is available. This was only the 2d record for Monterey County; the first were at Elkhorn Slough NERR near Moss Landing
Tentatively; plants in this area need further study
Still in the mouth of a Striped Bass we caught
Giant Wakerobin with the less commonly seen yellow flowers. Cluster of petals was about 2.5-3 inches wide (2nd photo). Photo credit: A. Holberg.
Giant Wakerobin (Trillium chloropetalum) A.k.a. Giant Trillium or Common Trillium. California endemic plant. It is a native, glabrous, perennial monocot in the Bunchflowers (Melanthiaceae) family that grows 2--7 dm (up to 28 inches) tall. It grows in semi-shaded, moist woodlands, edges of redwood forest, chaparral, and on canyon banks in alluvial soils. 3 Leaves are large, sessile, 7--21 cm long and 7--18 cm wide, rounded to obtuse at tip, generally weakly +- brown-green-spotted or mottled, and whorled around the stout stem. The 3 leaves are located just below the single, 3-petaled flower. Flower colors can be yellow to pink to dark purple, occasionally white. Peak bloom time: April- May.
Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47218
Calflora (with species distribution map in CA): https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=8119 and in Monterey County: https://www.calflora.org/entry/observ.html?track=m#srch=t&lpcli=t&taxon=Trillium+chloropetalum&chk=t&cch=t&cnabh=t&inat=r&cc=MNT
Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 328-329.
Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 398.
Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/melanthiaceae/
Morphology doesnt seem consistent with Golden Shiner. Close lookalike Rosyface Shiners are not present on the Eastern Shore.
E. cicutarium, botrys and brachycarpum are all present on this section of the trail, offering ample comparison. (E. moschatum is far away, one day I'll get all 4 together!). E. cicutarium at top, E. brachycarpum at right, and E. botrys at bottom.
I took this opportunity to study these 3 species, most importantly botrys and brachycarpum, the differences of which are poorly documented. I observed 160 E. brachycarpum, and 242 E. botrys.
Tentative ID per @scsurflady, cc: @billhubick
Piney Creek Road - Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County, California
Largest and reddest garter I've seen
This is a picture of some type of gall on a blackberry on the North Tract of the Patuxent Research Refuge near Fort Meade, Maryland.
I figured out the ID of the big beetle in this photo (Buttercup oil beetle or American oil beetle), but note the small insects on her back. I read that the larvae of this beetle hitch a ride on bees so they can sneak into a bee nest and eat bee larvae. So it doesn't seem like these would be the buttercup oil beetle's babies ...?
Fungus eating holes into the moth abdominal cuticle, discovered during dissection.
Host moth at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93942089
From a photographic collection my family and I made when I was in elementary school of tidepool life
From a photographic collection my family and I made when I was in elementary school of tidepool life
This is a picture of a Pemphigus populicaulis on a poplar at Leakin Park in Baltimore City, Maryland.
@steve_nanz @paul_dennehy @neoarctia @treichard
Left saccular projection bent to 90° and apex chisel shape; right ptojection mostly thick and straight with rounded fairly blunt apex, lacking dinosaur head; mesad on the right side there is a medial triangular tooth lacking setae, and a heavily setose dorsal projection that is much longer than the posterior margin of the valva.
Spec #45307
This observation is for whatever is causing the deformed leaves on this Alliaria petiolata (prev obs).
I saw a number of Alliaria petiolata with these types of deformed leaves. They were in different places, most of which aren't likely to be sprayed with any kinds of pesticides. I looked pretty carefully, and none of them had any aphids or other apparent causative agents.
(tag: mystery alliaria leaf curl)
At first glance, these California Groundcones look like pine cones. These (decomposing/falling apart) parasitic groundcones were about 2 inches tall, possibly growing over roots of Manzanita and Chamise shrubs in a Monterey Pine forest.
Link to confirmed observations of California Groundcone nearby: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215422540 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/167099765
California Groundcone (Kopsiopsis strobilacea) formally called Boschniakia strobilacea. Native, perennial, parasitic plant in the Broomrape (Orobanchaceae) family that grows 1-3 dm (4-12 inches tall). It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in chaparral or on wooded slopes. It generally parasitic on roots of Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) which it parasitizes by penetrating their roots to tap nutrients. Stems are erect and simple. It has no leaves. The inflorescence is spike-like, generally reddish-brown to brownish-purple. Bracts are densely overlapping. Flowers emerge from between the overlapping bracts. Peak bloom time: April-June.
Calflora (includes species distribution map in CA): https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=11786
There are 9 observations in Monterey County as of 5/12/24 on Calflora: https://www.calflora.org/entry/observ.html?track=m#srch=t&lpcli=t&taxon=Kopsiopsis+strobilacea&chk=t&cch=t&cnabh=t&inat=r&cc=MNT
Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=93802
Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 223-224.
Oregon Flora (good photos of the plant) https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=5890
Coastal California's Living Legacy: The Monterey Pine Forest, 2nd. ed, Nikki Nedeff, et. al. The Monterey Pine Forest Watch, 2018
Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James G. Harris and M. Harris, 2022.
Spotted nearby an observation of Fritillaria biflora (see Calflora), though it appears the owner of the property mowed it down. Hopefully the bulb survived.
You can see some faint mottling on the dried tepals, which is why I'm calling this affinis and not biflora.
There were three individuals in this spot. I've obscured the exact location.
One of several specimens found on underside of log in moist environment. Photo #1 taken on site with flash fill. Photo #2 taken through microscope, about 4 hours after capture under poor light conditions.
TUDU x GRSC/LESC. Couldn't find that option on Inat.
Unusual coloration - variation or some mixing with dog genes?
(Synchita parvula) Kuhns Ridge Road, Indian Springs WMA, Washington County, Maryland. June 21, 2019. At UV light. About 2mm in length. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1772346
More beech with than without
Specimen #1746