Identifier Mentoring

General
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Uh-oh! I also learned jack-in-the-pulpits as a single species, so I didn’t consult my field guides when identifying my own observations, and just assumed they were A. triphyllum. I guess I better check them and make sure they really all are that species.

How does the layperson actually keep abreast of such changes in taxonomy, especially when even new(ish) books don’t reflect them?
It’s difficult for non-expert generalists, like myself.

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Probable to improbable:

That’s Not My Name: Episode 2: Goldenbushes - Isocoma menziesii vs. Hazardia squarrosa

That’s Not My Name: Episode 3: Horseweeds - Erigeron before they flower?

That’s Not My Name: Episode 4: Rosettes - Ones you’ve been able to distinguish, inspired by @sedgequeen’s Rosettes of Dicots project.

That’s Not My Name: Episode 5: Sprouts - Two leaves and great quality photos is all that’s needed to ID it! Inspired by some of @kyle_eaton_photography’s plant photos, where there’s amazing detail, but it looks like every other plant because dicot leaves often look alike. Also many in @nonbinary-naturalist’s Seedlings of the World project.

I still need to turn this post into a journal with photos…

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Not sure if this is helpful, but the typical method of learning plants I go by is as follows:

  1. Key out the plant (could be substituted with use a guide or field guide) to get your first hypothesis or set of hypotheses for an ID.
  2. Check comparable material IDed by experts for your general area. If there’s a lot of consistency between the source, the comparable material, and identification of similar species you can probably stop here. Nowadays, there are many ways of doing this:
    a. iNaturalist: Simply add &ident_user_id=[username] and type in whatever location you want to focus on.
    b. Online herbaria: GBIF; Symbiota databases (e.g., SEINet):
  3. Compare with type material. I typically go to JSTOR Plants to see what types are available, copy the catalog number, and then use that catalog number to find the specimen in the database of the herbarium that holds the specimen.

The nice thing about this method is that you can ID pretty much anything regardless of how well understood it is (provided the material is online). At minimum, I think any training should at least provide resources for identification and a means of finding comparable material. I’ve found it’s also very important to explain the structures used as key characteristics and the variability of those characteristics (for example, it helps in knowing what an author means when they say there is a ridge on a seed). The only other thing you might want to learn about is how to create key characteristics for a regional area (i.e., creating your own identification resource). Ultimately, just because a key characteristic isn’t present doesn’t necessarily mean the organism isn’t identifiable (e.g., I’ve never seen a key to rosettes, but many are easily identified). Sometimes if the geography and habitat is restricted, you can create your own local key using characteristics found nowhere else.

I informally mentored a few people in Euphorbia identification and would love to do it again sometime in the future (especially after having some experience teaching Field Botany at OSU). Not sure I can justify the time right now though.

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I drafted something very similar (a 6 step Euphorbia ID tutorial) but never finished or published it. It’s definitely a project I’d like to come back to, though.

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If you have an ID you’re curious about, feel free to tag or dm me. I’d be more than happy to explain.

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Also, bplant.org, one of the best places on the internet, has almost 125 complete plant guides. Plant Comparison / ID Guides - bplant.org. Very well written, with clear photos and an emphasis on a positive user experience.

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I love this reference, it’s a great one

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49

I was referring to having to learn Old Scientific Name and two or more New Scientific Names.

And how many of those older names encompass what are now considered two or more species?

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Ha! The way I learn is when some identifier comes along and points out that jack-in-the-pulpits or foamflowers or whatever have been split and would I mind withdrawing my original (now wrong) ID at the species. Or I buy a new field guide (in this case, Emily Sessa’s new fern guide) and learn that Long Beech Fern was split in 2019 into Long Beech Fern and Tetraploid Beech Fern (she calls Long Beech Fern Narrow Beech Fern, by the way, although the scientific name is the same). I just can’t keep up with articles even for plants in my region, so I rely on iNat observers/IDers/curators most of the time.

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None that I can think off off the top of my head.

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Ok, @hcoste, it’s time for Adult Autumn Odonates in Northeastern North America.

I thought I would focus on a few species/genera that are very common August through till frost in the northeastern US and the eastern Canadian provinces. I will caution you that I am not an expert in dragonflies and damselflies, so if someone contradicts what I say, they might well be right!

Let’s start with some basics:

  • Adult dragonflies are usually much stockier and bigger than most adult damselflies. Dragonflies tend to hold their wings out straight when perched; damselflies hold theirs together over their backs, usually (but beware the spreadwings!). Dragonflies often fly strongly; damselflies appear to be weak fliers (until you swing a net at them, upon which they disappear into the fourth dimension more often than you can believe).
  • Adult odonates, much like birds, often look different as adults vs. young adults (or tenerals, as recently emerged odonates are called). Ditto male vs. female. And just to add to the fun, some adult dragonflies get more powdery blue (“pruinose”) as they age. Thus, it is worth paying attention, not only to color, but to overall size, shape, perching habits, and habitat in order to learn odes.
  • Larval dragonflies and damselflies live in water and look very different from adults; we’ll ignore them for now.
  • As far as I’m concerned, the best way to learn any species, no matter what taxon, is to look at them closely and often, and to invest in a few to many good field guides or manuals. If you can find and attend a field trip or class, great, but that’s not always possible.
  • Looking at odonates: Occasionally, they will sit still enough that you can approach closely and quietly and admire them with your bare eyes. Often, however, the little darlings (which have excellent vision, because they are visual predators as adults) will zoom away as soon as you get close; thus, it really helps to have binoculars, especially close-focusing binos. If you get serious, you may want to start using a big insect net, not because you must collect specimens to dissect their genitalia, but because sometimes you need to see them in hand to ID them to species (including examining their external genitalia, by the way). Both dragonflies and damselflies are quite sturdy and, if caught with finesse, can be handled briefly and let go with no harm done.
  • Books: I’m not up-to-date on such matters, but I’d say you might want Dennis Paulson’s Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East (since you live in New York State). If you can find a copy of Ed Lam’s beautiful Damselflies of the Northeast, buy it, but be aware that Ed will be publishing his Dragonflies of North America this fall and you want it. Just pre-order it now; I haven’t seen it but Ed is an incredible artist and naturalist and the book will be gorgeous.

OK, enough introductory blather (but feel free to ask more questions). On to a few species you should know.

Here’s a link to the odonates of the state of New York, listed by prevalence of species observations. I’m giving you this because most of the species you see will be in the first 10 or 15 species listed here.

Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis. Very, very common, especially around ponds and lakes, but also in open areas well away from bodies of water. Often perches on top of a stem or on a leaf. This lovely species is medium-sized as dragonflies go; learn what Blue Dashers look like and compare other dragons to it as you learn. Females and young males have yellow dashes along the tops of their abdomens (like this). Fully adult males have pruinose abdomens, like this. All ages and sexes have wavy yellow lines on the sides of their thoraxes, like this. There are other useful characters as well, but notice these first.

Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia. Another very common dragonfly; this one often perches on the ground or rocks, not on top of the stems of forbs. As with Blue Dashers, Common Whitetails vary in color patterns by sex and age. Here are links to a fully adult male, a young adult male, and a female. Note the very obvious wing markings and the very obvious pruinose abdomen of the fully adult male. Caution: females look quite similar to female Twelve-spotted Skimmers, so beware!

Eastern Pondhawk, Erythemis simplicicollis: Very common and given to perching on the ground. Yet another species where the female and young adult male vary in color from the fully adult male. Note the pale terminal appendages at the tip of the abdomen; if I remember correctly, pondhawks are one of the few dragonflies with these pale tips.

Meadowhawks, Sympetrum species: Another percher atop forbs and such, and likely to be one of the last dragonflies flying even past a last frost or two. These are smaller than Common Whitetails and Eastern Pondhawks; they are about the size of Blue Dashers. Fully adult males are bright red and stunning. Young males and females are yellowish. There are several species; don’t worry about them now. The only thing “wrong” with meadowhawks, to my mind, is that they signal that fall is coming (even though they start emerging in July).

Let’s turn to damselflies.

Ebony Jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata: You said you know these, so I’m going to assume you know the beautiful adult males. Females have dusky (usually not jet black, like the males) wings with a white spot near the tip. These dance and flutter near small streams and rivers.

Forktails, Ischnura species: The common species are Eastern Forktail, I. verticalis, and Fragile Forktail, I. posita. Both are tiny. Females can be quite hard to ID to species, so ignore them for now. Note the subtle differences in thoracic stripes between adult male Eastern Forktails and Fragile Forktails.

Bluets, Enallagma species: So many bluets, so little time. I can tell you there are 17 species of Enallagma in Massachusetts; I don’t know how many there are in New York. In general, they are the beautiful blue-and-black damselflies so common around most waterbodies, but beware blue-form female forktails. And should I even mention Scarlet Bluets and Orange Bluets and Vesper Bluets? I certainly shouldn’t tell you about Rainbow Bluets, because I’ve never seen one - they don’t occur in Massachusetts, where I live.

OK, that’s enough to get you started; please do feel free to ask lots of questions!

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You ranked this as least probable but it’s my favorite lol. Who doesn’t want to peer into a seedling’s future?

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105533801
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104948702

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I’d suggest starting a specific thread in Tutorials so that this information isn’t lost in this more general thread.

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Good point - I’ll do that when I get a moment.

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Lynn this is wonderful! Exactly the sort of push I need and put in a way that is tailored to the photo IDing done on Inat (which many references aren’t), so thank you for taking the time to lay that out!

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@susanhewitt I would love to learn the Maine shells!

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one of those zillion used copies reached me today – thank you for the recommendation!

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OK, let’s work out where to start. You live in or often visit part of Maine? Have you been picking up shells there for a while?

And do you have any shell books?

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I live in Maine, and visit the coast often. I pick up shells sometimes. I have one guide to beachcombing, and can ID the very basic families/orders/whatever they are (clam, mussel, scallop, etc.)

Thank you!

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Beyond helpful, I do not check anything above Chironomidae on a regular basis when IDing Chironomids. Any Chironomid IDed at a higher taxon level I consider lost. Either some kind people like yourself ID it as a non biting midge, or I have to go and dig for it.

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