Share those observations you encounter while IDing or observing but keeps one clueless and defies categorisation until there is some aha moment or knowledge gain. please add short comments if you are directly linking them.
white lady beetle larva that still stumps inat CV as scale insects and also appears as entomopathogenic fungi but the organism is very much healthy atleast
A simple exclusion filter of those that doesnt fit in this discussion is anything correctly recognisable by iNat CV already - even if its cryptic to humans - and so must be popular and easy accessibility to learn those by anyone eventually. (hopefully every discussion here and those observation groups get there someday)
and major inclusion factor to post here would be those observations that looks plausible in multiple hierarchical tree paths at same time and keeps the identification challenging at initial stages to not let CID go down to one side confidently - so even if it is popular taxa but the way it is observed and presented kept the ID challenging. As in 6th example above - is it plant part? or is it marine? or weird fungi?
so post things here only after they are categorised somehow by community and consensus on one path. broader unsolved mystery observations as for example spider silkhenge are also welcome here but not the primary focus.
feel free to use this thread as journal as you encounter those mystery observations anytime and post here after there is atleast some consensus in IDs eventually for those. This topic is meant as educational and collecting those mystery observations that will also help everyone (maybe one can create project in future of these unique linked observations as - Getting started for unknowns IDers lol )
The discussion about the moth is so long. I have never so many comments on anything iNat related. Crazy. I have nothing that can compete but for me, a lot of stuff that I find is a âOooh, thatâs what that isâ momentâŚ
It took me almost a year to realize this was a beetle mine, I was so sure it was a lepidopteran. I found out while trying to identify other adult Trachys and I saw pictures of their mines
And still unsolved but I just have no idea what this larva is. The beetle people say itâs a caterpillar and the moth people say itâs a beetle larva!
Somewhere is an obs I struggled with. Also dead, and beheaded. Which made it hard to recognise a âbig headed beetleâ the first time I saw it observed.
welcome to forum, and i did thought its those ant mimic spiders at first from color but yes overall structure is still ant. those spider mimics are deliberately imperfect.
As soon as I opened it, I saw that it was fungal. Beyond that, I also donât know.
I like to go through things that are identified as fungi and try to get them down to at least order. Common things misidentified as fungi include gummation (stiffened tree sap), gastropod eggs, bird poop, and spray paint. As a member of my local mycological society, I am often sent pictures of âfungalâ dog toys and soggy pompoms as well.
I remain semi-stumped by one of my own observations, and itâs the only time I have ever been torn between three Kingdoms for an observation (I currently have it over-IDed at phylum as Cyanobacteria; it resembles a green boba tea, but I am of course certain itâs not):
Perhaps had I realized how skilled the unknown IDers were, I would have left it there!
Another favorite of mine was realizing I apparently donât know how to identify a peanut shell. Once someone else gave the ID, my brain was all of the sudden able to recognize it:
