iNat allows bacteria and virus obs, but there aren’t very many compared to plants, animals and fungi. Part of this is probably people assuming you need special equipment for it, but there are a couple obs of chicken pox on human skin, as that’s caused by a virus. Farmers are also skilled at identify…

It depends – which part of the country do you live in? I only know about the Northeastern States. In general, people mostly are not aware of plant pathogens, so they don’t keep their eyes open for any of the effects they can cause.

“Blue isopod disease” (on iNat as invertebrate iridescent virus 31) is one easily visible virus which attacks a wide range of common garden isopods. It is not always easy to find isopods that have turned blue though, in many places only a small fraction of the population is infected. Be careful not…

Cyanobacteria can sometimes be identified to species from ordinary photos, like Nostoc pruniforme. Lichens using cyanobacteria as their photobiont are easy to spot, and hornworts and liverworts can host cyanobacteria colonies (I think mostly Nostoc, but not certain) in their thallus appearing as dar…

If you are familiar with a specific selection of garden plants (as individuals, not species), you will be able to spot when changes occur in them that aren’t part of the usual seasonal cycle. Then you can look up on gardening websites what their common names are, and the pathogen that causes them. I…

What viruses are easy to observe in the Northeastern States of the US? Some suggestions: If you know how to recognize the Common Hackberry tree and you can find several of them, one or two of them will probably have the Hackberry Mosaic Virus on the leaves. And also, if you look at enough American…

Microscoped images/electron microscope images are rare to nonexistent here, but they would probably be a way to upload bacteria and virus observations

That’s only true if we want to view the pathogens themselves directly. But in many cases the symptoms are sufficient to ID the pathogen.

There are some projects for microscope obs. I haven’t contributed to them (yet), but I like to look. The two I’m aware of: Foldscope https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/foldscope Microscopic Microbes https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/microscopic-microbes

Tips for bacteria and virus observations?

Nature Talk

neontetraploid September 10, 2020, 12:43am 10

Of course. I’m not saying microscopes are the only way to do it. Just a method that hasn’t seen much use on here

Topic		Replies	Views
How you can easily make virus observations Nature Talk	21	2399	December 15, 2022
Plant and Fungal viruses to be aware of in Nature Nature Talk	5	343	December 5, 2020
"observing" unseen Endosymbionts. Should they merit an observation? General	27	1044	February 1, 2025
How big is the microorganism/microbiology community on iNat? Nature Talk	20	415	December 6, 2024
Anyone have all eight kingdoms? (Gotta Catch 'Em All!) Nature Talk	49	2437	June 12, 2021

Tips for bacteria and virus observations?

Related topics