What is your Favorite Lifer from this week?

May I request you to post the inat links, so that I can favourite this one - I have fallen in love with Rosalia’s despite discovering that the one we have Rosalia lateritia is a major Oak pest.

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Locally, we have a saying everyday is a Sunday, and if it isn’t its a Monday. So technically 28 to 31 weeks are still possible :-)

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Oh my gosh, wow wow , thank you for sharing.

The picture with the thumb actually makes it look very very cool.

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My observation was this one: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/122026224
I heard from my sister living there that this year was an exceptionally good year for them and a lot of people saw them for the first time (including her, she ran into one a week or so later, also within the city limits of Vienna) - so I guess I wasn’t really as lucky as I thought to spot one - just lucky to be at the right place at the right time!

Indeed, just checking and there’s 100 observations in 2022 within the city limits of Vienna: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2022-01-01&place_id=10471&subview=map&taxon_id=56228 (and 78 obserervations before 2022, so more than half of all inaturalist observations happened this year). I have no idea why.

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While this little critter wasn’t a new species per se, it’s a first time seeing one of these Green Treefrogs at this particular stage of life. It was amazing to me.

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Thursday Sept 15th. I am away from NYC, visiting Southern California, San Diego North County. Finding several really entertaining new things that I have not seen during previous visits:

Stripe-eyed Lagoon Fly, a drone fly
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135189423
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Golden-Spined Cereus, a cool-looking cactus which mostly lives in Baja California.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135062977
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Brachymeria, a chalcid wasp. I never saw a chalcid wasp before, but I had heard about them.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135180726
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Rufous, Allen’s and Allied Hummingbirds, Genus Selasphorus – very small and quite red in color.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134949115
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Light Brown Apple Moth, an introduced species with a fold in the wing.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134915442
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Grey House Spider, an introduced species. Plump and cute.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135319086
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Hands-down this Brown Wasp Mantidfly. I’m not sure I had any other options, but it would take a doozy to beat this one.

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That is an amazing looking insect! Had to look it up to make sure it’s not one of those AI creations :sweat_smile:

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Oh, mantisfly is still on my wishlist!

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You might want to add this to the plant fasciation project:
[Fascinating Fasciation] https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fascinating-fasciation

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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135314450

Gosh, snakes always make a big thrill. This is small snake is a “lifer” because of the evidence of a recently caught meal (swelling behind the jaws).

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Yay! A couple more San Diego North County lifers today, both insects:

True Cochineal Bug. I have known about cochineal since I was a child, but I have never seen the insect until now. The outside is white, but the inside of the insect is a strong red in color.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135437076
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Eastern Sycamore Lace Bug. I thought I observed this one a few years ago when I was with finatic (BJ Stacey) in this same park. But I can’t find any observations of this, even under a different species name!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135434368
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My four year old found what we think might be a glass snail (Oxychilus sp.) shell in the backyard today. Species number 220-something from our yard!

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On Thursday I saw this ladybird Novius cardinalis, introduced from Australia to feed on Icerya purchasi (which it did).


https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135185940
And yesterday, while trying to find it again for a better photo, I saw its larva

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135445995
I have meanwhile found an article with photos, so it is this species. :-)

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Okay, so this really isn’t from this week, more like 8 days ago, but I figured it’s close enough.

An American toad, my lifer toad.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625984

A ferruginous carpenter ant, my lifer of the species.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625985

As an avid aquarist, it was pretty cool to see water purslane in the wild.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625926

An oil beetle.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625923

Some Arion slugs.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625904
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134625906

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No exciting plant lifers for me in several weeks, so sometimes while observing plants I also try and take some insect pictures lately - if some insect is gracious enough to hold still at least. I hate spiders so I’m surprising myself here but I kinda liked this Phidippus mystaceus - and it’s also only the 3rd observation in the state:


I don’t have a camera just a phone, but I have a clip-on macro lens - almost wish I would have tried to use it, but this being a spider I tried to keep as much distance as possible - and probably for good reason since it’s a “jumping spider” and I figure might have jumped on my clip-on lens had I attempted to get close to it :dizzy_face:

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Only 11 to choose from this week. I’ll nominate this goofy fly that I have only a tentative family ID. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134825348

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On Sunday Sept 18th. Some more extremely cool lifers from San Diego North County:

Cactus Weevil Cactophagus spinolae, a big all-black very handsome weevil.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135570276
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Coyote Brush Stem Gall Moth
(https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55517)
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Red Bush Monkeyflower, very pretty indeed.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135570942
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Green Lynx Spider, I have always wanted to see one of these.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135571581
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Lorquin’s Admiral, a shockingly great new butterfly for me.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135573272
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Iridopsis gracilaria – a nice pale grey moth in the Ashram gardens
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135600860
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And today Monday Sept 19th quite near the hotel I noticed Spanish Clover, which was new to me!
Spanish Clover, Acmispon americanus (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57049)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135732998
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And washed up on the beach at Cardiff State Park, I observed a new-to-me seaweed:
Banded Fanweed, Zonaria farlowii
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135731570
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Also in the same area I observed a different small seaweed that was not only new to me, but which must either be quite uncommon, or must be overlooked a lot, or maybe both, because so far it only has a total of 24 observations here on iNat:
Nienburgia andersoniana
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135714421
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I also observed another seaweed that was new to me, Devil Weed, Sargassum horneri, an invasive species from Japan and Korea.
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And today is yet another sunny California day – Tuesday Sept 20th.
I observed what I think was a Western Giant Swallowtail Papilio rumiko
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135847590
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My lifer observation from this week past would have to be the humpback whales I saw at the Gold Coast.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/134823936

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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135429676

Not a true lifer per se but my first observation of a Northern flicker. We have two that live in our neighborhood but every time I noticed the iconic white rump I didn’t have my camera. Finally spotted one while I had it out, and had a brief moment of panic when I thought it had flown away, but I ended up getting these, which are, in my opinion, some of the best bird photographs I’ve ever taken.

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