Congratulations on the Varied Bunting
Lesser Goldfinch lifer means you must live somewhere East or another continent? I love those little black and yellow chatterboxes.
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ok , thanks, will edit :-(
and reposting here
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Oh, I’m still in Texas, but we mostly get the American goldfinch, not the lesser goldfinch in DFW.
I’m still working on ID’s but I’m about to throw up my hands on all the lizards. I love lizards, they’re neat, but cnemmies are hard as hell. Blurry shots of fast running lizards that all look really similar
I think my favorite from this week (or last, but it’s close enough) might be the under-reported gall midge Clinodiplosis verbenae of which I was the first to observe.
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I had two for one this week. After examining my photos of a small larva I spotted crawling on the road American Carrion Beetle (Necrophila americana), I noticed that there were Carrion Beetle Mites (Genus Poecilochirus) hitching a ride!
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What a funny looking aphid!
My favorites this week are (July 14-21 2021)
This Acicnemis sp. weevil: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87869384
This Lasioglossum sp. bee: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87243058
Polididus armatissimus, an Assassin bug: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87364698
This Lupropini Darkling beetle: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87868956
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Week ending July 18: Death’s Embrace. Not a pretty sight, yet fascinating…
I was walking on a trail in a ponderosa pine forest when I saw with my left eye a large black insect with orange wings flying in mid air like a dragonfly. Few seconds later I saw with my right eye another large insect that was flying like a dragonfly. It aimed straight at the black and orange insect as if it were a peregrine falcon. They crashed into each other and fell on the ground. The second insect couldn’t fly anymore because it was busy embracing the first insect tightly. It delivering a kiss of death that must have lasted for who knows how long. I photographed them for about 20 minutes and then walked away. Hours later some other people walked the same trail and saw that the killer was still embracing the victim. I have never witnessed anything like that before.
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A robber fly killing another robber fly? That seems to be what the comments said.
Yes and the way it killed the other robber fly like a kamikaze. When I posted my comment I didn’t know that the victim was another robber fly. The case is not completely closed because so far nobody knows the identity of the killer. One iNaturalist suggested that it belongs to the Tribe Stenopogonini.
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This week my favorite new find may have been this cute striped broad-nosed weevil in Central Park, Aphrastus taeniatus::
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88327771
@ginsengandsoon found one in 2019, and I was jealous then, but now I found one of my own.
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Earlier this week I was blessed by the presence of a beautiful Polyphemus Moth who visited my porch light. I just saw my first one ever less than a month ago and never would have expected a second one to literally show up on my doorstep! :D She was very friendly too, I can’t believe I was able to hold something so lovely right in my hands. Definitely my favorite from the week! Though I think the Great Spangled Fritillaries and Monarch Caterpillars I saw earlier today deserve an honorable mention.
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East coast? Lesser gold finches are pretty common in the greater Sf Bay Area, at least some times of year.
Congratulations! Why is it so difficult to find it?
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Week ending July 25: The sculpture/fashion designer/parachuter bagworm moth caterpillar. It build its “bag” using pieces of Siberian elm leaves. I hope to see the moth one of these days.
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This week was intence and I will have to wait for the winter to get all the ids for plants and insects, so I will stick to vertebrates for now as I already can name some of my favourites!
Long-tailed Ground Squirrel and not yet to be uploaded Siberian Chipmunk!
Red listed black stork, common Masked Wagtail and majestic Rufous-backed Redstart family!
And species I wanted to see so bad: Red-flanked Bluetail (though I wanted male!), Common Rock Thrush, Daurian Jackdaw and of course Red-billed Chough! I also happened to see 3 eagle species, all new to me!
Our homeowner and driver caught a small Arctic Grayling.
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I assume they are just rather uncommon. There are not many records of this species overall. Plus it is fairly small so perhaps easy to overlook assuming they are also uncommon.
It sounds like you had a great week! Are you in a preserve or national park?
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You’re right! No, we were just living in a spot in mountain steppe. Altai Nature Reserve takes big part of the region, though quite far from where we’ve been, those places are mostly visited by birders because of close Mongolian border, so it’s a great opportunity for insect lovers and plant lovers to find something new on iNat for the region, for me it’s the first time of visiting such heights too!
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