My strangest unknown observation is this >>https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/236310255.
What are yours?
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My strangest is this:
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I don’t believe I have any unknowns.
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I have a lot of strange unknown microbes or microscopic stuff. But that almost feels like cheating… Haha
Here is this instead: Some waxy growth or residue on a conifer branch
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204695611
Honorable mention to this white fuzz on Sonchus oleraceus
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/234171159
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It took me at least an hour of scrolling through my observations with different search filters to find this. It’s a tiny mysterious blob that I found floating in a rainwater bucket. I made a tentative ID based on someone else’s observation that looked similar, but I really don’t know what it is.
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Just about three years ago and I still haven’t a clue: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97049640
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My most recent one (and the one I’m most curious about) is this: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/240035337
I feel like it should be really obvious yet I have no clue. These structures covered a lot of the rocks submerged in the pond water and were soft to the touch
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Wow! I’ve never seen anything like that before.
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I was hoping maybe there’d be some I could provide a little insight on, but nope! All of these leave me clueless.
My weirdest is this goopy clump on the side of the road: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/195950989
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I don’t know that the organism is all that mysterious, but the “behavior” was beautiful, and confusing. I still hold out hope that someone will recognize it. :-)
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I have seen things similar to this in Australia. Apparently these are larvae of hover flies, Eristalis spp. The are sometimes called “rat-tailed maggots” or tank worms. They prefer stagnant water with lots of organic matter. They use the long tube on the tail to breathe from the surface.
woah, that looks weird!
I dont have any Unknowns. Though, i like to ID unknowns and sometimes its both fun and tiring.
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That is interesting. My first thought was Trentepohlia sp., but they are all terrestrial algae, so it can’t be, I think.
My other hypothesis would be that it’s colonies of iron oxidising bacteria. They often have an orange-ish colour.
Really these are just wild guesses though. Haha
I don’t think this is one. It’s too transparent and goopy. I agree with the current ID on this that it is an egg case of a Chironomid.
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both of those are (probably) made by the plant.
The first is (probably) resin, the bark looks damaged, and many conifers exude resin into in juries to seal it and prevent pathogens to set foot in the damaged tissue. It is a weird colour, probably because it is old and oxydised (or it is from conifer species I am unfamiliar with).
The fuzz on Sonchus is it indumentum; many plants have an indumentum composed of hairs, which come in a variety of different shapes, functions and length. This fuzz on Sonchus serves to protect very young buds from invertebrate grazing, but it’s shed pretty early during development.
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/239983300
This rather abstract form was spotted on top of a leaf recently. There were about a half dozen strewn about a low little bush in a richly diverse and old woods. About 2 mm long. None matched but all looked like little fibre strands.
My first thought was the remains of some kind of woolly aphid after a spider got through with them. There appears to be tiny legs and a possible antenna at the anchored end that I am almost sure I noticed weakly moving while shooting.
A possible fungal infection?
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I have this one for the shiny silvery substance on the surface of the water at a hanging swamp. I don’t know if it’s just decayed plant material, if it’s mineral, or something else:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/232164446
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This very recent one has me thoroughly stumped. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/244227454
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Looks like a molt, molts even include internal structures as well!