They stay still longer on a suet feeder, and won’t chase off rivals that are on the other side, like the Hairy woodpecker here (of course, I wouldn’t try to chase off a bird that much bigger than myself, either)
They definitely do a quick grab-and-go from the seed feeder. Luckily I had my camera set on very high shutter speed and caught this one making a fast getaway:
Mythimna unipuncta, the armyworm moth. If you do sugar baiting for moths by painting bait unto tree trunks at night, when one moth in the “flock” flies off the tree as you approach, they all scatter. Most moths will let you get really close to the tree, but Mythimna unipuncta is so alert and easily scared that if there’s one of them on the tree, it’ll fly away when you’re still 15 feet away and approaching, scattering all the other moths to the four winds. Anyone who’s done a lot of sugar baiting in North America has probably experienced this, and it can be very frustrating to see so many moths at the bait but never get close enough to view them.
Ailanthus altissima
They are smelly invaders.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Homo sapiens. I was going to mention them last night, but I thought, no, that’s too obvious. A species that discards non-biodegradable things everywhere it goes, hassles me if I’m doing something unconventional, tends to drive off every other species in the area, and
Humans. Yes, hands down… Homo sapiens.
The plants themselves are perfectly fine, but asters, goldenrods, and sunflowers are tough to actually identify to species level, and they are the majority of flowers blooming by the time school starts.
So when students are submitting observations for mandatory class projects, of course most of those students will never use iNaturalist again and many of them could care less about taking identifiable photos or ever identifying anything. But for those that do care, and who might become interested enough to stick around and learn more, I’m sure that’s less likely to happen when the best ID you can get is “Goldenrods” or “American Asters”, and so none of your observations ever seem to reach Research Grade.
This is not the fault of the plants, but I sure wish that more of these projects would be done in the spring, when the flowers tend to be easier to identify!
Apart from Arion vulgaris, which I wholeheartedly agree with:
Geum urbanum
I‘m just out there enjoying my stroll through the garden when I suddenly come out of an area intentionally left wild and I‘m absolutely covered in its fruit…
Not truly my most annoying species, but today I’m making a pie, so I have to say: whatever those worms are, that are in all of my apples.
I mean, what good are they, if I’ll never even be able to ID whatever insects they are?
If they are pink, they are probably codling moth caterpillars
Interesting, thanks! some (but not all) of them are pink.
While we’re down there (Epizoochory):
Regardless of size, the burs are hard to get out out of hair and off fleece garments, socks, etc. They even stick to dog and cat fur. Definitely a successful strategy.
Where I live, they are also actively collaborating with Clematis vitalba, Humulus lupulus and Hedera helix to climb up onto each other to reach tall trees. Together they even succeed in ultimately bringing them down, either bending them or making the trunks snap.
Net the apple and wait to see the adult!
Any Cynoglossum, because of their seeds. At times I considered shaving my legs feet and toes, such is the pain of removing them.
We haven’t personally encountered these, but we fear aquatic invasive species like zebra mussels and the giant jumping carp because of how radically they can alter ecosystems
People are definitely the species we feel most annoyed with
Cabbage whites are prolific—the most abundant butterfly we see—and do not meet our need for beauty or joy, so we’d be fine seeing fewer of them
*We literally love red-breasted nuthatch and jump for joy when they visit our feeder or we hear them call!!!
My most annoying species is probably the House sparrow and the European Starling.
Why? I really like them. But then, they are among the few birds so adapted to humans that they allow me to get a decent picture…
I imagine it depends which side of the Pond one is on. Both species are considered invasive in N. America.
@eyekosaeder. The House sparrow is an invasive species. It is also aggressive towards the Native species. Lots of times it will destroy other Native species eggs. They will even kill nestlings. And randomly Native adult birds. Now on to the European Starling. The European Starling is also a invasive species. It is also aggressive towards the Native species. They will also viciously attack and kill Native cavity nesters.
Brilliant! I would never have thought of that!
And then I might not only get a “lifer” to post here:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-is-your-favorite-lifer-from-this-week/24219
but I could also post here:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/you-know-youre-seriously-into-inat-when/1992/1761
