When I checked this project some while ago there was not much for me to do… but it seems there are some pages with spider observations now :-)…
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Sorry, guys. I spent so much time working on identifying my dandelion observations that I have yet to upload, I don’t think I’ll have time to provide many IDs tonight.
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I’m still keeping alabama as ID’d as I can. Solved one uni, now we have two classes from two other unis. I had to stop for a bit before going back and finishing, got tired of looking of the same oak tree in front of the building 30 times.
At some point i’ll get back to eastern na stereums…
I decided wildflower season is my least fav, the more I think I figure out, the more I don’t know 'cause of course there’s some oddball rare one that can pop up… ha
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For those who still have identification energy and like arthropods, perhaps you could tell me how to take better pictures of these observation subjects to facilitate identification. (Or let me know which ones can’t be IDed from a photo?):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150108001 Spider
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149423528 Springtail
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145762043 Cranefly
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141623311 Mosquito
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136873783 Harvestman
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136873583 Seed bug
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135616389 Flesh fly
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135171311 Bottle fly
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135169104 Furrow bee
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132994628 yellow faced bumblebee
Your bees should get picked up the bee taxon specialists.
That furrow bee link goes to a fly?
I am very definitely not a specialist in any of those species, but I was curious, so… Anyway, I looked at your first observation, the one of the long-legged sac spider, genus Cheiracanthium. In the field guide Spiders of North America, there are two Cheiracanthium species listed. (I don’t know how many more, if any, are possible in that location.) Of C. inclusum, the field guide says, “This species is difficult to distinguish from the introduced Cheiracanthium mildei without looking at genitalia” (p. 436). So, getting to genus is probably as good as you’re going to get with those spiders, short of taking up microscopic photography.
And I wouldn’t be surprised at all if several of your other observations will have the same fate. But I think one thing you can do is to mention (tag) identifiers who have IDed many observations of your specific taxa in your specific area. I did that for your bottle fly observation as an example. Good luck!
Sarcophagidae can’t be ided from pictures alone, even genus is most of the time a reach.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135171311 not sure how many species of the genus is found in NA, here you need better pictures of different parts of the fly and a list of species are ided from males only.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141623311 need clearer picture, you need to see separate hairs on different parts of mosquito body
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136873783 same as the previous one, need lateral picture, picture of full legs, and all clearer, unless it’s a unique-looking species
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145762043 same and better views, you need top, lateral, ventral, genitals in 3 projections, head and antennae
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Your springtail is probably good as it can get.
Getting beyond family andor genus without additional work or previous knowledge (example: in cave, and knowing which cave, and what species found in said cave from prior work) is pretty difficult.
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Thanks! Sorry about the bad link.
I will have to get that field guide! I like spiders. Thanks so much for this information and your advice!
Thanks so much for all this information!
To all of you, I felt a little self-absorbed bringing my observations to the identifriday forum topic, but I have learned so much more from these kind responses than I would by waiting around for someone to discover them. Thanks again.
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Thanks for this info! (It came in on a package from the “cave” of my mailbox! LOL!)
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Cheiracanthium species are often very similar, so that even the only 2 species known from the US (versus about 20 in the EU) are not distinguishable by photos. Habitat might be a good indicator … as yours seems to have been found indoors, it is very likel the introduced C. mildei… but exceptions occur, so it is best to stay at genus.
To get at least genus right it is very helpful to see the legs (like in your picture) and/or the eye region
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I’m about done with identifying. Every day my notifications show me pre-mavericks, and half the time, it’s because I identified something as the genus it used to be before the genus was split.
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In general with flies get a dorsal shot, side showing the legs, and front of face (that’s in order of increasing difficulty and decreasing importance!). If the fly is bristly the position and number of bristles is usually important: try to get the bristles on the thorax and legs in focus especially. The more bristles that can be seen the better!
Don’t be worried about some observations sticking at higher levels, it’s the nature of the beasts! Sarcophagidae in particular usually need genitalia even for common species.
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Thanks very much for the guidance!
I think that there are now no Unknowns left from any previous City Nature Challenges (aside from a very few from observers who prefer their observations stay as Unknowns till they ID them themselves). And there are 7 weeks till the 2023 CNC - whee! A moment of freedom!
So, who wants to guess how many true Unknowns (not Bacteria, Viruses, Life, etc.) there will be at the end of the 2023 CNC ID period on May 7th? I’m going to guess there will be around 30,000, since there were 24,000 left from the 2022 CNC in late December of 2022.
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Congratulations! That’s a lot of work!
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Respect!!!
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That’s a pain - it suggests the split is not being done right.