Cedric Lee Curator

Joined: Jan 30, 2013 Last Active: Mar 19, 2024 iNaturalist Monthly Supporter since December 2019

Currently, I am a PhD student studying the systematics of Lithobiomorph and Geophilomorph centipedes. I became certified as a California naturalist through the UC California Naturalist Program at Pasadena City College in 2013. I have a bachelor's degree in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution and a minor in Conservation Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. I have expertise in dissecting snails, slugs, and centipedes for identification. If you want me to dissect specimens for identification, I accept legally collected specimens for research purposes. For more information on when a permit is needed, please check out the following link: https://www.theskepticalmoth.com/collecting-permits/

I've been keeping in mind that every data point is important. By making numerous observations of species at different sites, researchers have a larger sample size to work with. Thus, I contribute to citizen science by mapping as much flora and fauna as I possibly can through this website. This is a great way for me to keep track of and to learn more about what I've seen. I'm surprised at how much I've learned so far and even more so at how much I have yet to learn. Recently, my personal research/hobby involves mapping the distribution and figuring out the taxonomy of Lithobiomorpha (stone centipedes) and Geophilomorpha (soil centipedes) in California. From 2018-2019, I've discovered over 20 undescribed species of centipedes.

✭✭My Observations✭✭
The majority of my observations are from Southern California and consists mainly of plants and invertebrates. Most of my recent photos have been taken with the Olympus TG-4 digital camera. I occasionally upload audio files and observations from my siblings.

✭✭My Identifications✭✭
I usually make IDs on flora/fauna that I am familiar with. Though I consider myself to be a generalist, my ID strengths are the terrestrial gastropods, myriapods, and flora in California. If you want to know further about why I made the specific ID, please do ask.

Sometimes I will mark an observation's location as inaccurate or that there is no evidence of the organism to support the identification. Doing so will usually make an observation "casual" and not research grade. Accurate data is vital since research graded observations are used by the scientific community. If you think I'm mistaken, please make a comment and I'll fix it. It's also important to limit the accuracy range circle as much as possible if you are manually inputting the observation location.

If you have observations from around Southern California and would like help with identifying them (preferably plants, insects, or mollusks), feel free to add "@cedric_lee" in your observation description or send me a private message and I'll take a look.

✭✭My gratitude✭✭
Throughout my time on iNaturalist, members of the community have been extremely helpful. I feel that the community provides an environment that fosters the growth of naturalists such as myself. It is impossible for one person to be well versed in all of the taxa on this planet, thus when groups of experts and amateurs from around the world are interacting with each other on a social platform, we all essentially have the potential to learn from each other. I am grateful to all the iNat users that have helped me learn more about nature.

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✭✭Identification Websites✭✭
This is a compilation of various websites that I have found to be useful in identifying wildlife in California, though some of them are helpful for other regions as well.

Plants of California
http://www.calflora.org/
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html
http://tchester.org/plants/index.html
https://urbantreekey.calpoly.edu/

Flora of North America
http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1

Reptiles and Amphibians of California
http://www.californiaherps.com/index.html

Insects and Arachnids of North America and Canada
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

Insects and Diseases of California Oaks
http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/pdf/psw_gtr197.pdf

California Oak Galls
http://joycegross.com/galls_ca_oak.php

Terrestrial Gastropods
http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8336.pdf
http://www.sanbi.org/sites/default/files/documents/documents/bioseries15introterrestmollusca.pdf
http://www.carnegiemnh.org/science/mollusks/va_imagegallery.html
http://www.brerc.eclipse.co.uk/files/BRERC_snail_key.pdf
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v7ndnxQdNznHG9PLUII3j6mC30SBcxpayWwanltTXkI/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0
http://www.naturespot.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Land%20Snails%20Key%20version%20%202.1.1%20ii2016%20illustrated.pdf

Freshwater Gastropods of North America
http://www.fwgna.org/species.html
http://molluskconservation.org/MServices_gastropods.html

Intertidal Invertebrates of California
https://people.ucsc.edu/~mcduck/DreamWeaver/index.html

Introduced Aquatic Species in the US
https://nas.er.usgs.gov/default.aspx

UK Hemiptera
http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/gallery.html

Mirids
http://research.amnh.org/pbi/catalog/index.php

Isopods of California
http://tolweb.org/notes/?note_id=4182

British Myriapods and Isopods
http://www.bmig.org.uk/home

Centipedes
http://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/geographic_search

Scale Insects
http://scalenet.info/media/scaledb/flatcat/Coccidae.htm
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ppd/PDF/Technical_Series_01.pdf

Zooplankton of North America
http://cfb.unh.edu/cfbkey/html/begin.html

Windscorpions
http://www.solpugid.com/Key%20to%20Families.htm

Moths of North America
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Plates.shtml

North American Bird Feathers
https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/index.php

Cicada songs
http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/western_species.html

Millipedes
https://www.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/hoffman_checklist_1999.pdf

Diplurans
https://eurekamag.com/research/003/629/003629702.php

Etc.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identotron
http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de
http://idtools.org/
http://biodiversitylibrary.org/
http://gbif.org/
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/
http://www.boldsystems.org/
https://www.hathitrust.org/about
http://www.discoverlife.org/
https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/

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