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 …

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 …

We suspect this is a butterfly or moth: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/384422073 [image] Might also be a bagworm moth: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97819676 [image]

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! [image]

[image] Clip: 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 nothin…

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! [im…

found this bagworm in Zanzibar carrying around a pyramidal house [bagworm] and made a little video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUK1mPzWwyk

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. :face_with_raised_eyebrow: These photos were from different places in forests in Zhejiang, China. [IMG_6497] [IMG_5…

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. Drynaria in Flora of China @ efloras.org

[image] 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 WA…

Has this ever happened to you....?

Nature Talk

cthawley September 3, 2026, 11:36am 15

As noted above

Please refrain from making posts asking for identifications. The best course of action in this case is to make an observation on iNaturalist itself.

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Has this ever happened to you....?

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