Riaan's bittersweet transition from generalist to specialist

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@DianaStuder shared the observation above.

In the observation, @DianaStuder called upon @beetledude Riaan Stals for help with millipede ID.

Riaan has a profile here on the forum, but he is not very active on the iNat Forum.

In response to Diana’s request for millipede ID, Riaan wrote a comment that was thoughtful and profound, and beautiful, in a bittersweet way. He reflected on his transition, over decades, from generalist to specialist. Riaan’s comment reads like a bittersweet love letter, and I wanted to lift it out of the obscure comments section on iNaturalist and put it on a pedestal here in the forum, in case it resonates with you.

To see the original, click on @DianaStuder’s post above. I will reproduce the comment below:

Dear @dianastuder,

It goes against my grain, but I have had to let my dreams of being and remaining a competent generalist naturalist go. Hence millipedes are one of the many, many groups of organisms that I do not study at all any more, even if definitely not for a lack of interest, or passion even. I’ve had to force myself to become not-interested in myriad groups of living things, of which I am most concerned about my rapidly vanishing knowledge of plants.

I am over the moon, though, to see that my unsure feet as a pseudo-specialist in many groups are on iNat being replaced by true specialists (like the current influx of genuine beetle specialist-experts) and by people willing and able to study a group afresh, gaining impressive expertise and being willing to share it freely. For millipedes, that person is our long-beloved @wynand_uys.

But still, even to the most expert of experts, the adage of that Rebelo chap holds true: “Miracles only on Mondays.”

Diana, thank you for your longstanding trust in me. I hope that, one day, time will smile on me again. My career has now matured to a point in which I have to write up the past 35 years of tinkering and produce real peer-reviewed science: at least my publication record is becoming less embarrassing. That comes at the cost of dialling down my passion for everything else, and I mean every-thing.

You are well aware of the truest of truisms: A specialist is somebody who knows more and more about less and less until she knows everything about f-all.

I am living testament of the truth hereof. You remain welcome to @ me for anything, though.

With love,
Riaan

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beetledude is built in the same kind mould as Ian Toal was.
He can say - I don’t know, tell me more - when identifying.

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When Diana said that Ian and Riaan were “built in the same mould”, she may be referencing this kind post that Ian Toal wrote:

Recognition of young iNatters

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It would be less of a blow if the specialists were more evenly distributed across taxa. As it is, some taxa have a plethora of specialists and others hardly any.

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I saw the title and initially assumed this was about a shift of ecological niche is a species of vine. ;)

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You have a vine called bittersweet ?

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American Bittersweet on iNaturalist

“C. scandens roots were used by Native Americans to induce vomiting and to treat venereal disease.”

Good times! :+1: :joy:

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Not to be confused with Oriental Bittersweet (link goes to taxon page), which is extremely invasive, and also toxic. One of my grandmothers loved using them in dried floral arrangements. Go figure. :woman_shrugging:

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Using the fruit? Looks attractive!
PS now I see where Celastraceae gets its family name from

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Diana’s comment about Celastraceae got me curious, so I dove into some research!

I followed @GothHobbit’s link to the iNat page for Oriental Bittersweet, but I didn’t see the etymology.

I DID manage to find this!

  • Linnaeus was the first person to describe Celastrus, in 1753
  • Linnaeus was describing American Bittersweet, which I think is what @raymie was referring to, above
  • The word Celastrus is a Latinization of the Greek “κēλᾰστρός”
  • “κēλᾰστρός”, which is pronounced kelastros in English, means “cloister”
  • A “cloister” is a covered walkway in a monastery or a convent. The “covered walkway” idea gives a sense of something enclosed or climbing in a beautiful, orderly way.
  • The species name of “scandens” means “climbing” in Latin
  • The genus name Celastrus also gave rise to the family name Celastraceae
  • And to the order name Celastrales

Thanks for sparking my curiosity, Becca and Diana! :blush: :pray:

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I love how this thread took a detour from human connection to plant taxonomy! :seedling: :joy:

It reminds me of that epic thread:

You know you’re seriously into iNat when

Picture it:

A regular person watching a movie with a car chase might say, “Wow, amazing special effects! It looked so real!”

Meanwhile, iNatters like @jasonhernandez74 and others would also be excited by that car chase scene, but they would be saying things like:

  • “That’s a Red-tailed Hawk sound, not a Bald Eagle!”
  • “I know the genus of those roadside plants!”

We have members who are so passionate about nature, and I think that’s a great thing for global conservation! :earth_africa: :heart:

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(There is a type of vine called bittersweet that is a Solanum used in wedding arrangements since in the floral language it is a symbol of fidelity. I think it is crazy toxic, so maybe it is “faithful or else”.)

Thank you @DianaStuder and @AdamWargon for sharing that lovely comment. I have often been quite touched by comments on iNat but have not thought to share them more widely. As I live in a geographic area with less ID/comment traffic, they often feel extraordinary, though.

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I was thinking of both American and Oriental Bittersweets, which are both fairly common species in my area.

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https://pza.sanbi.org/pterocelastrus-tricuspidatus
Ours has ‘wings’.
I wonder if the seeds are poisonous? Eaten by birds.

It is an interesting family

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I’m so fortunate to have had Riann (aka Beetledude) holding my hand and helping with my first babysteps into the world of beetles and iNat, 7 years ago. He has managed to get me to become so excited about tiny weevils, mini water beetles and staphylinidae. Nothing now excites me more these days than getting on my knees and poking around in a pile of juicy, moist cow dung, discovering a new world of tiny beetles in each cow pat. My ambition is to become a beetle generalist and follow in the footsteps of Beetledude. I hope I shall end up knowing a little about each beetle family down here in Botswana. Thanks Riaan for passing on so much of your knowledge, on iNat. On the other had southern African iNaturalists are desperate for guidance and help from expert rutelinae, melolonthinae and staphylinidae specialists.

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