Rarest Finds on Inaturalist

California Cuckoo Bee in Virginia: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28126754

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I was lucky enough to photograph this individual, this first observation on iNat for Canada
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30576370

I suspect that it’s less a matter of the species being rare than that there just aren’t enough eyes looking for this species and submitting observations.

In the same week as this one was IDed, I received an ID for this observation, the second observation for Canada:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58041669

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I currently have 14 taxa (all rare Nevada plants) for which I am the only observer. I used to have more but @sherriff_woody_pct and @coreyjlange have been adding lots of new photos of rare Nevada species. I love seeing new observations of our rare species when I can’t get out in the field myself!

Edit: Sorry, taxa, not species.

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You mean this one? https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/first-known-photographs-of-living-specimens

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I believe this is my rarest observation - anolis monteverde. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41191421
Unsure if it is rare only because it was newly considered to be a new species or if it is just rare. I also have a few insects from Costa Rica that have not yet been confirmed but seem rare such as zygogramma violaceomaculata https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40947126

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I wouldn’t say it’s easy exactly, but in Hawaii it’s not that difficult to find rare things if you know where to go. I have a number that might qualify under different definitions. I’ve rediscovered number of colorful flies that hadn’t been seen in about 40 years:

Drosophila reynoldsiae https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42222628
D. neogrimshawi https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42223320
D. kinoole https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42223314
D. spaniothrix https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42225032

But the oldest recovery was this bristletail, which turned out to have not been seen since around 1892. The type was lost and the remaining specimens didn’t have the diagnostic characters so some had started to doubt it was real!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39375307

For actual rarity, this turned out to be the holotype (and so far only known specimen) of a new bee species, Hylaeus mamo: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39388320

But the rarest in terms of overall population is probably this psyllid Paurotriozana adaptata, which is a specialist that now only survives on the one wild tree of its host: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49810062

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I believe there’s only one like that.)

I have a few rare wasp observations that I am either the only observer of, or am among the only observers of.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/300278-Exochrysis-tolteca

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40617163

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43170272

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@kmagnacca: Impressive! That is sad about the psyllid with only one remaining host tree.

I think you made a copy/paste error though – there’s a (second) link to Neomachilis heteropus where the link to Paurotriozana adaptata should be. (The real link is https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49810062).

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I have a list of 31 species and subspecies for which I (currently) have the only iNat observations, including 7 reptiles and 4 frogs. Probably most of them aren’t all that rare though, just obscure. I think my favorite in terms of rareness is the Sri Lankan katydid Scytoceroides ceylonensis, which apparently had no known photos before the photos of seven individuals I unwittingly came home with. Big thanks to Sri Lankan naturalist extraordinaire @elaphrornis for tracking down the identify of this species.

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I observed and collected Exobasidium uvae-ursi, a really cool fungal parasite on Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, and was the 1st fungarium/herbarium record for my state of Colorado and 3rd observation globally on iNat. Only documented by one other person (Mr. Solheim on 3 occasions in the late 60’s in Wyoming) in the entire Rocky Mountains.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/53691534

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I’ve got a number of birds that were iNat firsts, usually small island endemics with vulnerable populations.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/558465-Ptilinopus-hernsheimi
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/8090-Monarcha-godeffroyi
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/17531-Rukia-longirostra
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/558457-Alopecoenas-canifrons

This is definitely my rarest
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/12046-Lanius-newtoni
Critically endangered, currently estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals left…

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Thanks! Fixed it.

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I said something similar in another thread, but when I’ve made rare finds, it’s often the specialist identifier who discovered that I did so.

@psyllidhipster IDed a psyllid that I observed in SE Arizona, that had not been collected or photographed since it had been first described 80 years prior: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8122525

KD Djikstra IDed a flutterer dragonfly that I saw in DR Congo, that “was only known from the type series collected in Nov 1952 in Kabongo, 530 km further south. So you’ve rediscovered it after 62 years!” https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1146242

This Sagalla caecilian is only known from a <20 km2 hill in SE Kenya: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31923

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What a strange ichneumonid!

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А вот это (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51893161) моя самая редкая находка. Третья известная точка произрастания вида на всю Беларусь. Стараюсь минимум раз в год повторно посещать, что бы следить за динамикой.

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This.

All of my singles are IDs from others, I am not really at a point to know things which arent easily lookupable. Also with many of my IDs I am the only one with, I dont know if its rarity or just lack of people looking. Likewise many of my obs in Nepal are species in low inat numbers, but possibly moreso from lack of obs, than rarity (Many of my obs there are unIDed possibly because of the low quality photos, but also less people knowledgable or specialised in the area. like https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/371947-Neolucanus-castanopterus is a single post on inat, but I do see on other websites.

Like this has two obs, in a very small range on inat, but I feel I do see them more often.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/391528-Leptotarsus-alexanderi

A couple singles with the ID help of steve kerr

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/387385-Cerozodia-hudsoni
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/408679-Gynoplistia-ocellifera

I am all three sightings of

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/513295-Gasteracantha-unguifera

Which dosent seem to show up in image searches, but again I dont know if its rare within its range, and isnt really looked for in its range.

I am 3/4 sightings of https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/385234-Algidia-viridata which also dosent really show up in image searches, but again wouldnt be sure of actual rarity.

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I found a small moth on Boa Vista, Cape Verde. It was identified as Trichophaga robinsoni a member of the Tineidae family and believed that it had not been recorded from Cape Verde before. It’s range is Madeira and Porto Santo, and also occurs on the Canary Islands, the Selvagens Islands and in Western Sahara.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39254035

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I have nothing truly special, since I live in one of the most well covered (as in population and as in iNat observers) parts of the world -central Europe- and I basically capture pics of critters I see when walking around in the countryside or my village, so odds of getting something uncommon are slim. But then I’m happy I got what could be (no research level) a couple of poorly observed mayflies Habrophlebia lauta and Paraleptophlebia submarginata:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27141245 (1 of 2 observations so far)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42678201 (1 of 5 observations so far)

And one of seven instances of the chironomid Endochironomus albipennis (of which five are from the same observer)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/45214525

This gives me hope I can one day find something rarer, but I’ll probably start to have to look harder :)

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My own rarest observation probably has to be a vagrant King Penguin that turned up at Cape Point - they’ve been recorded only a handful of times in South Africa.

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