Have you ever taken a photograph of something thinking it would turn out to be just a bit of debris on the off chance that it wasn’t just debris? I have two examples of to share where my debris turned out not to be just debris. The first is from just a few days ago. I saw what I almost wrote off as a bit of dry plant debris on the outside wall of a restroom at a State Forest campground. The portion of the wall I found it on was otherwise debris free so I decided to take a quick photo just in case. I went through the photos the next day and almost did not post the photo on iNat. Then I figured I would just delete it if it turned out to be nothing. It was not nothing it was a Common Bagworm Moth. I was glad I posted it.
The second was similar circumstances accept that there was a lot of debris on the wall and a different State Forest. I photographed what looked like a bunch of debris that stuck to the outside wall of the restrooms. I got the photo home and discovered I had not just 1 but 2 American Grass Mantis. I didn’t see the second one immediately either.
Granted it was uncomfortably hot and bright outside on this day, my patience was thin, I spotted this piece of debris? far above my head but it was postured in such a way near some spider webs that I took a photo at the chance of it being something. I was sure it was a piece of a leaf at the moment and forgot about the photo until later that night. To my surprise it was a Boxwood Leaftier Moth! A memorable moment of bewilderment for me - though it may seem obvious through the photo alone.
It took me a while to realize that these little bits of schmutz on my light sheet were actually weevils… Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar, observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/225296174). This is one of the few that was recognizable as an insect!
Actually, this same thing happened to me when I was visiting the lower states. We were traveling around quite a bit and I began seeing these odd collections of debri all over the place. At first I unwisely ignored them even though my mind told me not to. It wasn’t until we got to a camping sight on the upper peninsula of Michigan, toward the end of our traveling time that I got a photo of one hanging in a restroom. I don’t know if I found any more after that, so I’m glad I got photos when I did.
That looks to be a Wavy-lined Emerald caterpillar! I ran into one the other day (well, night) as well. I was actually taking pictures of another insect when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I could’ve swore it was just another piece of wet grass debris… until it moved again!
I still don’t know what these leaves are and where they come from… I found them in several spots on the different trees and these leaves do not belong to any of the trees nearby.
These photos were from different places in forests in Zhejiang, China.
With the aid of Google Images I provisionally identify these as the “nest fronds” of a fern of the genus Drynaria. The other fronds would then be the “foliage fronds” of the same species.
Absolutely has happened to me! I deleted so many photos of what looked like lint on leaves because surely it was just that, we get strong gusts here.
And then finally one day I really watched and after a bit, something tiny stuck its tiny bits out and began to move again and I was like WAIT WHAT.
Here is the first observation I made and my befuddlement is still in evidence in my Notes but now I am fairly good about recognizing Chrysopidae in their “trashy” phase.
I think also because each one looks different my brain didn’t register it as “each of these looks the same so maybe it is a living organism” until I actual saw movement.
I had interpreted the rule as asking for identifications for published observations on iNaturalist, not about generic broad identifications. But I can see how this can become a nuisance nonetheless.
The post was more wondering if these were observations of organisms at all or just random “dirt” or waste. I found interesting that sometimes it isn’t easy to tell. I’ll publish it again once I’ll fave figured it out .
It was this guy for me. Found on the side of a post, I thought maybe it’s some seed, or part of a seed, from some plant. When I created an observation for it the CV instantly suggested it was Homaledra octagonella, and sure enough there are lots of pupas that look just like the one I saw. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/208905423
Same! I saw something move and thought it was some floral debris waving about in a breeze because it was caught on a bit of leftover silk from a spider or webworm…and then it took a deliberate step into a narrow arched shape.
Back in 2015 I had a similar encounter in the middle of urban Mexico City with what I believe to be the caterpillar of an Oiketicus bagworm moth (though not sure about the ID). First I thought it was just a clump of old leaves lying on top of a low hedge but then saw that it moved, spotted its head and took a photo. Sadly, I lost the precise date of the sighting but at the time I had never heard of bagworm moths, so this was an interesting introduction to their existence.
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