regisrafael's Journal

Isanthrene melas was first described as Sphinx melas Cramer, 1775, that gave a plate of the species (https://archive.org/details/deuitlandschekap11779cram/page/n220/mode/1up?view=theater). Later, Hampson, 1898 transferred the species to genus Isanthrene (https://archive.org/details/catalogueoflepid01brituoft/page/173/mode/1up?view=theater). The species was previously known to Suriname, French Guiana and the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul (Ferro, 2007).

To improve the knowledge of the species distribution, I compared Inaturalist observations with Cramer illustration and BOLD Systems image (https://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=1130525). The search was made in the brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Distrito Federal, Bahia, Tocantins, Maranhão, Pará, Amapá, Amazonas, Rondônia, Acre and Roraima; argentinian provinces of Misiones and Corrientes; and in the countries of Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Photos of adults previously identified at least in the subfamily Arctiinae was checked. "Research grade" observations was excluded of the search.

It was found 18 observations recognized as Isanthrene melas: 1 from Rio Grande do Sul, 2 from Paraná, 5 from Rio de Janeiro, 1 from Mato Grosso do Sul, 1 from Minas Gerais and 7 from Misiones.

Mostly of the observations was misidentified as Isanthrene incendiaria, a similar sympatric species that can be differentiated by the thorax and abdomen first segment lines and dots. No previous identifications of the species had been made at Inaturalist site before this search and it's the first known photos of living specimens of Isanthrene melas. This is the first evidence of this species to Mato Grosso do Sul and Missiones (first evidence for Argentina). The species has a wide distribution but is somewhat difficult to find.

Bibliography:

Ferro, Viviane Gianluppi. Diversidade de mariposas Arctiidae (Lepidoptera) do cerrado. 2007. Tese (doutorado) - Curso de ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2007.

Aclytia terra is a species first described by Schaus, 1896 (https://archive.org/details/journalofnewyork41896newy/page/133/mode/1up?view=theater). Hampson, 1898 also described the species and provided a figure (https://archive.org/details/catalogueoflepid01brituoft/page/458/mode/1up?view=theater, https://archive.org/details/catalogueoflepid13brit/page/n73/mode/2up?view=theater). The species was previously known to brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Goiás and Rondônia; and Argentina and Ecuador countries (Ferro, 2007).

To improve the knowledge of the species distribution, I compared Inaturalist observations with Hampson illustration and BOLD Systems images (https://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=355032). The search was made in the brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Distrito Federal, Bahia, Tocantins, Pará, Amazonas and Rondônia; argentinian provinces of Misiones and Corrientes; and in the countries of Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Photos of adults previously identified at least in the subfamily Arctiinae was checked. "Research grade" observations was excluded of the search.

It was found 53 observations recognized as Aclytia terra: 6 from Rio Grande do Sul, 21 from Paraná, 3 from São Paulo, 1 from Rio de Janeiro, 1 from Minas Gerais, 18 from Misiones, 1 from Corrientes, 1 from Peru, 1 from Ecuador and 1 from Guatemala.

This is the first evidence of this species to Minas Gerais. It can be the first evidence of this species for Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala, but I was unable to confirm or refute this evidence.

Bibliography:

Ferro, Viviane Gianluppi. Diversidade de mariposas Arctiidae (Lepidoptera) do cerrado. 2007. Tese (doutorado) - Curso de ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2007.

One of my personal goals on Inaturalist is photograph and publish very rare taxa. For this purpose, I defined as very rare the taxa that have less than 10 observations on Inaturalist. Recently, I participated in a class of trees identification and registered lots of individuals identified by Martin Grings, a local botanist. One of the species identified was Picrasma crenata that was the third observation identified as this species on Inaturalist site.

The key characteristics for the identification was leaves alternate, imparipinnate, opposite leaflets with asymmetrical base, crenulate to serrate margin and branch with bitter taste.

The species is known to the brazilian states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, north of Argentina and Paraguay. Picrasma crenata is hard to make photographs of key characteristics like leaves, flowers and fruits beacause they are too high or are too small. The wood is very bitter and has medicinal properties.

Make the first observation on Inaturalist is an important event because this observation can be used later to made more identifications of the same species. The genus Sisyrinchium have around 150 described species and many of this species have very similiar morphology.

October 27 I decided make some photos, I choosed a pasture to explore for herbs and insects. I found some Sisyrinchium, I was looking for rare species and ignored Sisyrinchium micranthum. Three forms looked diferent from S. micranthum and I took shots. Later, when I upload the pictures I was convinced that one of them are S. micranthum, despite it looked diferent at field.

To identify I consulted Flora e Funga do Brasil site (https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/listaBrasil/PrincipalUC/PrincipalUC.do;jsessionid=F0F858585E5FCCDE8A4EFA8F22A5EB6A) and made a search selcting genus Sisyrinchium and state of Rio Grande do Sul. Most of the species have pictures and I could compare with my own photos. One of them, that I thinked was S. micranthum, matched perfectly with S. platycaule images. Compared with S. micranthum is a smaller plant with free tepals, with a different tepal color pattern.

It was the first observation on Inaturalist identified as S. platycaule. I found another of my observations that matched as S. platycaule, misidentified as S. micranthum. Later, I searched the site for more observations of this species and found a total of 7 observations.

I believe this species was overlooked because is hard to identify and don't attract much attention of naturalists at field. Also, the region of occurence still have very little botanic identifiers.

Recently, I participated in a class of trees identification and registered lots of individuals identified by Martin Grings, a local botanist. One of the species identified was Ilex brevicuspis that was just the fourth observation identified as this species on Inaturalist site.

The species is known to the brazilian states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, and in the province of Misiones in Argentina.

Why is rare?

• Occurrence area in South America where have fewers naturalists.
• Ilex brevicuspis can be hard to make photographs of key characteristics like leaves, flowers and fruits because they are too high.
• Hard to identify and there are few botanists identifying in the area of occurrence
• The tree doesn't attract attention and live in areas of low human traffic.