Good description for it. 
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My backyard is quite dull so I sneak into my next door neighborās backyard and found a fig plant (Ficus cumingii) which has never been photographed before in my country (Malaysia).
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Am fortunate to live in an area in northeast California that has been re-occupied by gray wolves, including a pack that has produced pups in each of the last 4 years. After a lifetime of looking at small coyote tracks, being able to go not too far outside of town and see a canid track that is almost 5 inches long is an amazing thing.
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Theres several plants and insects in my area that I discovered had maybe 5 observations or less. I think of one my plant was the only observation on all of inaturalist. I think there are several more like that, but I dont have time to sniff them all out.
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Well, I did have this cutie in my patio. We donāt often see skunks so much as smell them at times. They travel along a nearby creek bed. This one seemed pretty chill, not worried about being out and about during the daytime.
The first time I saw this insect (and Iāve only seen it twice), I had no idea what it was. I did not know forcepflies (is that the plural?) existed and would have never guessed they would be present locally if I had. Someone had to explain to me what it was.:)
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Difficult to choose, but a recent interesting one was this Ant-mimicking jumping spider that I spent an awful long time to get decent photos of:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65381841
ā¦and this spider which I still canāt identify to a family level despite my clear desperate call for help (lol):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65381914
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Wow, that really DOES look like an ant! Wonders of the world. :)
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I observed a few days ago an insect which is supposed to look like an ant : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66632674 but itās not at all at the level of your jumping spider ! Maybe ants in France are less regarding about who gets in or out of their nestā¦
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I think the more interessant for me was today, when I checked an apple tree for all lichens and moss on it and found this : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66705268
The apples are tasting very bad and that may be the one responsible for it ! Without this app (and Seek at the beginning), I may never have have been this curious nor have found any info about it. By the way, if someone has more info or can help for identification, it could be very cool to have a confirmation.
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Itās actually THE PEACOCK TARANTULA which is indigenous to the parts of the world I live inā¦ I have mentioned about this arachnid in one of my blog posts tooā¦
Link:
https://unheardvoiceswildlife.wordpress.com/2020/06/11/a-nightmarish-epitome-of-beauty/?preview=true
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Yours is an adult. The immatures are much more ant-like.
A fairly large swarm of wooly aphids. Strange-looking animals.
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Trogus Pennator - a striking parasitic wasp. It has a bright red body and dark blue/black wings. After snapping some pics, I searched for info & found that it typically feeds on swallowtail species. I garden for pollinators so normally have pipevine, spice bush & black swallowtails in various stages. I doubt that it was a coincidence that a black swallowtail chrysalis about 15 feet from where I snapped the pics had a circular hole in the sideā¦
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For me, probably this American Shrewmole killed by my cat. I had no idea this strange species even existed, let alone lived on my property! The Western Toad I saw twice near my house was also surprising - more so once I learned that it was an endangered species (okay, technically just āvulnerableā, but still).
This Giant House Spider was terrifying!
For less surprising animals, Iād say the Barred Owl perched next to my house, and this flock of Red Crossbills which live in my area but Iād never seen before.
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For years I had sporadic visits in my backyard by a bobcat or a bobcat/domestic cat mix that was huge. Never could get a picture of him because as soon as I sighted him and run for my camera, heād be gone by the time Iād get back. He mated with several feral cats and produced offspring which in turn produced offspring. Hereās one of them which I fed for years.
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Last year I saw a Loggerhead Shrike migrating through for the fall migration, which for me is pretty cool!
The most interesting to me was when I saw an Eosphoropteryx thyatyroides (pink-patched looper moth) this past summer. I didnāt know about the species prior to seeing it (I took so many more photos than I uploaded here of it), and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful animal! So much so that I decided to make one of my photos of the animal my profile photo here on iNat! And looking at the map, it doesnāt seem like the species has been seen in my area very much, so I think it was really special to see it, Iām assuming they must be pretty uncommon here! Hereās my observation!
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