Castilleja, Erigeron, and Lupinus species and any Braconidae
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My least-favorite ID challenge would be gulls. In my neck of the woods (Northwestern Ontario, Canada), there are really only four expected gull species: Ring-billed, Herring, Franklin’s, and Bonaparte’s. I’m good with that, as the plumage patterns of gulls are so complex that even those four can be a lot of work…and I’ve nearly gone blind scanning flocks of gulls trying to pick out that one stray rarity among 156 Ring-billeds.
There are six more species on the District checklist (Sabine’s, Little, California, Iceland, Glaucous, and Lesser Black-backed)…but, after nearly 13 years of hard slog in the field, I can confirm the return-on-investment searching for these is negligible. Seriously, when was the last time a Sabine’s Gull turned up here? It’s tantamount to false advertizing.
I’m content with the annual late-summer appearance of the Franklin’s Gulls as they migrate south. While the little Franklin’s - nicknamed “Prairie Doves” - are common in Western Canada, they are extremely rare in Ontario.
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Moths are impossible. Moths and lichens.
The pattern in moths may even be very well described, but if I try to compare the pictures I have taken (of a species I do not know) based on these various descriptions in words… Well, it doesn’t work. These descriptions may be perfectly logical and accurate when I look at a picture of the species being described, even more so if compared with a similar species, and I see the differences. But not having the faintest idea to begin with, I am afraid I can’t even begin to mentally picture the descriptions, let alone decide if the description fits my observation.
My latest failure: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92343151
I am not even sure the ID is correct.
The only reason I even tried my luck in this case is because this moth came in from outside and chose to sleep (?) on my SD-card and battery case.
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Moths and lichens.
I will disagree softly on the lichens, since I started I’ve been surprised at how much is actually possible in the field compared to their reputation, especially with some experience, a good handlens and a couple chemicals in the bag.
Cladonia though is still often very much a headscratcher, especially the scyphose ones. There are just so many of them, and the subtle differences in squamules/granules/farinose soredia seem really quite indistinct at times, though I have been making some progress recently. This is somewhat of a shame too since they’re so nicely large an attractive for lichens; often I feel I have have more luck with the brown and grey crusts next to them.
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Gulls, definitely! Whenever I filter Identify for birds in my area, I exclude Larus because I know I haven’t got a chance at IDing them. However, I can now recognize the Mew Gull (Larus canus), which seems to be the most distinctive species here. So perhaps eventually I’ll learn the harder ones.
Besides gulls, I’d say flycatchers, moths and grasses, although I’ve learned to identify one of the common grasses as well.
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Last year I got Gulls Simplified, it’s a very cool book and is a must for learing US gulls, I know Gulls of the World is a good book too, but didn’t have a chance to use it as it’s quite expensive, but for bird lovers gulls can definitely be easier than they’re portrayed (it’s still a hard group, but many life stages are quite easy to id!).
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Part of your problem is that you live in a hybrid zone, where the “Olympic Gull” can look anywhere in between its parent species (Western Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull). And then the Thayer’s Gull confounds it by also looking similar.
But you should be able to master the Ring-billed Gull, because no other gull has that bill pattern.
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The genus Euxoa is one that’s very hard to penetrate. Between species variation, and the need for dissection for some spp. it’s sort of a minefield. I can feel my way through it, but I’m never sure!
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Orange Sulphur and Clouded Sulphur–I just can’t get it. I have tried.
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This remindes me that I am yet to see a linden tree submitted by ordinary people as Tilia platyphyllos. All are supposedly Tilia cordata even though both are equally abundant. And of course, many other species or hybrids appear in parks and other urban areas.
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Being a plant fanatic, I find the Family’s Ericaceae and Fabaceae very intimidating and sometimes close to impossible to ID to species level (even to Genus in some cases). There is such miniscule detail you have to pick up on for such a task that if you don’t know how to discern the exact right trait, you have no hope
Judging by how little ID’s I have for these taxa on my list of observations, I think its safe to say that others have the exact same problem
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Just imagine if you lived in a locality with multiple Mullerian rings:
Butterfly mimicry rings – a case of natural selection? | Non-darwinian views on evolution. (wordpress.com)
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I’ve been struggling with Nomada, the bee that looks like a wasp, for months. Every time I think I’ve got it, I’m wrong. I’m sure the more experienced Apoidea identifiers are getting very tired of saying “that’s definitely not a Crabronid” to me…
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Yes, wow, I’d be lost. :) I’m determined to figure out the Sulphurs though.
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