We're in Laos for the 123rd stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. The top observer is @edelaquis, an agricultural scientist currently based in the capital Vientiane. @keomanylth7777, also based in Laos, has her observations clustered here along with @affifi @siwnaturalist. There are quite a few observations that were posted by questagame as well. @thelittleman, living in Hainan, China, has observations clustered around Vang Vieng to the north of the capital. Further north, several top observers such as @michi1 have observations clustered around the historic region of Luang Prabang near the Mekong River. @gabesachter has observations clustered even further north while @nomascus, @tommarshall, and @deanthompson have observations clustered towards the south.

The graph of observations per month has been ramping up since late 2018 peaking in August of this year.

@edelaquis is not just the top observer but also the top identifier overall and in the insect category. Other top identifiers include @rajibmaulick, @nopcoeur, @anilamanalil, and @noppadon.

What can we do to get more people in Laos using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@edelaquis @tommarshall @keomanylth7777 @thelittleman @siwnaturalist @nomascus @rajibmaulick @nopcoeur @anilamanalil @noppadon

We’ll be back tomorrow in Iran!

We stay in the Pacific in French Polynesia is the 122nd stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. The top observer is @lisa\_bennett. Her observations are clustered around the Windward Islands & Leeward Islands along with most other top observers such as @petdoc, @bridgetspencer, @rmcminds, @rosspolynesiaexpedition2014, @anudibranchmom, and @pgeorgakakos. @rosspolynesiaexpedition2014 was involved in a Biocube effort on Moorea by the Smithsonian institution. A few top observers such as @pitrusque, @bja2800dk, and @luca63 have observations clustered in the Tuāmotu-Gambier region. None of the top 10 observers are clustered in the Marquesas Islands to the north or the Austral Islands to the south.

The graph of observations per month is still jagged reflecting random visits by travelers, but the 'background rate' has been ticking up since 2018.

As with Palau yesterday, @maractwin is the top identifier and leads in fish IDs. @phelsumas4life leads in 'other animal' (marine invertebrate) IDs. @kemper, another fish-o-phile, is the second top identifier. Other top identifiers include @mtank and @tim\_wilms.

What can we do to get more people in French Polynesia using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@lisa_bennett @petdoc @pitrusque @bja2800dk @bridgetspencer @maractwin @kemper @mtank @phelsumas4life @tim_wilms

We’ll be back tomorrow in Laos!

Our Observation of the Week is this parasitic fungus, seen in Mexico by @dianafr!

“I was always a very curious person,” says Diana Laura Fuentes de la Rosa, a biologist at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. That plus her professors who “shared with me their fascination and passion about all living things in the world” led her to study biology. Her main interests now are ecology and the conservation of terrestrial vertebrates. So of course, her observation of a fungus on an invertebrate is chosen as Observation of the Week. But the strangely beautiful tableau seen above was discovered while Diana was out looking for amphibians.

“When I was doing my field work in the Lacandona Jungle for my bachelor degree thesis I was just searching leaf litter frogs (genus Craugastor),” she recalls. “When suddenly I saw a strange larva in front of me on the forest floor. I picked it up, remembered my fungi lessons, and had no doubt on taking the picture.”

What she found was the larva of a scarab beetle that had been parasitized and killed by a fungus. There looks to be some disagreement on exactly which fungus this might be (if you know, please add an ID and comment!) but in general these fungi will attack a host animal and eventually sprout fruiting bodies (what we see here) out of the host, to spread more spores. Famously, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis parasitizes ants and changes their behavior so it can spread its spores.

“I mainly use iNaturalist to ease identification and register every species that crosses my way,” says Diana (above), “[and] I definitely think that iNaturalist changed my way to see our natural world. 

Since I became a member of this community I got into the habit of registering everything I see and I became more interested in plants, insects and fungi. Furthermore, I now think  that citizen science has surpassed our expectations of what it was capable of...it is a novel key tool for monitoring endangered, endemic and invasive species.

Some of Diana’s quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.

- BBC’s segment depicting Ophiocordyceps infecting ants is a classic.

- Fly death fungus is also a thing!

Palau is the 121st stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Palau is an island country in the Pacific north of Papua and east of the Philippines. Palau is tiny, just about 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC. While Palau is made up of many islands, most top observers have observations clustered on larger islands such as Babeldaob where the capital Ngerulmud is located. The more populous Koror City is nearby. However, @rmcminds stands out by having observations clustered on Helen Reef to the far south. The top observer is @maractwin who, like second top observer @davidr, is an avid scuba diver. Other top observers include @thibaudaronson, @drbh2o, @pangolinzen, @sudachi, @linscott, @albeer23, and @kobori.

The graph of observations per month shows a visit by @maractwin in March 2014 and a peak in June 2019 mostly due to visits by @thibaudaronson @linscott and @kobori.

@maractwin is the top identifier and leads in fish IDs. @phelsumas4life leads in 'other animal' (marine invertebrate) IDs. Other top identifiers include @sascha\_schulz, @carmelo\_lopez, @glmory, and @davidr

What can we do to get more people in Palau using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@maractwin @davidr @thibaudaronson @rmcminds @drbh2o @pangolinzen @sudachi @sascha_schulz @carmelo_lopez @glmory

We’ll be back tomorrow in French Polynesia!

It's Week 18 of the iNaturalist World Tour. This week we'll visit Ghana in Africa, Palau, French Polynesia and Papua New Guinea in Oceania, and Laos, Iran and the Maldives in Asia.

We begin in Ghana. The top observer is @sullivanribbit with observations in to natural areas in the southern part of the country not far from the capital of Accra. The 10 other top observers (@togbui, @steven2802, @kristian, @aganansiire, @nikborrow, @markuslilje, @thomasschreiter, @deboas, and @leslie\_flint) are also in this wetter southern half of the country.

The graph observations per month is dominated by three peaks representing visits by @markuslilje and @thomasschreiter in July 2017, a visit by @togbui in January 2018 and most recently a visit by @sullivanribbit in August 2018.

the top identifiers are our usual suspects for the African continent: @johnnybirder leads in bird IDs, @calebcam leads in herp IDs, @marcoschmidtffm leads in plant IDs, and @jakob leads in every other category. @cabintom and @joshuagsmith are also among the top 5 identifiers.

What can we do to improve iNaturalist in Ghana? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@sullivanribbit @togbui @steven2802 @kristian @aganansiire @jakob @johnnybirder @cabintom @calebcam @joshuagsmith

We’ll be back tomorrow in Palau!

We end Week 17 of the iNaturalist World Tour back in the Neotropics where we started - in Suriname. Suriname sits above Brazil with French Guiana to the East and Guyana to the West. And while these countries have respective Portuguese, French, and British colonial pasts, Suriname has a Dutch colonial legacy.

The top observer is @gerryvantonder who remotely from The UK is working with his brother based in Suriname near the border with French Guiana to document local wildlife. @gerryvantonder's brother sends him photographs which he works to identify and posts to iNaturalist. The second top observer is @djhiker with observations clustered around the capital of Paramaribo along with other top observers such as @nicovr and @bjsmit. The third top observer, @karsten\_s has observations from all around Suriname as does @paulcools, the 4th top observer. But on the map, @paulcools appears near Brownsberg Nature Park. This is where the highest concentration of top observers are clustered, perhaps second to only to Paramaribo. They include @mark185, @remco, @mikegrutherford, and @andrewrodrigues.

The number of observations per month ramped up suddenly in 2019 when @gerryvantonder joined the site. Over 500 observations were posted in September of this year, a new high for the country.

The top identifier is @matthewcock who is interested in Lepidoptera of nearby Trinidad and Tobago. @matthewcock also leads in insect IDs along with @rstlaurent (a PhD candidate at the University of Florida studying Lepidoptera) and @johnascher (an entomologist based in Singapore). @ozzhernandez from nearby Venezuela leads in bird IDs and @anabela2 leads in Mollusk IDs.

What can we do to get more people in Suriname using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@gerryvantonder @djhiker @karsten_s @paulcools @mark185 @matthewcock @ozzhernandez @rstlaurent @johnascher @anabela2

We’ll be back tomorrow in Ghana!

Nigeria is the 118th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Despite having relatively few observations compared to other nearby countries like Benin
Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there appears to be a lot going on with iNaturalist in Nigeria. The top observer, @dotun55, is naturalist in Nigeria with observations clustered around the capital of Lagos in the southwestern part of the country along with other top observers such as @petersoroye. The second top observer, @agboola, runs an Nigerian NGO called the Environmental Resources Conservation Initiative and has observations clustered around the city of Jos in the center of the country. @agboola is working on a masters at University of Ibadan which is located just to the north of Lagos. Several other top observers such as @taiyeadeyanju, @restlessspaces, and @ddk\_photos have observations clustered near the University of Ibadan. In the northern part of the country @abumuazu has observations clustered near Malumphashi and Katsina. @abumuazu was involved in the Kastani Flora project administered by @abubello associated with a Systematic Biology class at Umaru Musa Yardua University in Katsina. You can see the cluster of students participating in this project around Katsina near the northern border with Niger. Also in the northern part of the country, @a_s_ringim has observations clusterd around Dutse and @umarsalehgwani clustered around Bauchi. In the southeastern part of the country, @also\_sprach\_susscrofa has observations clustered around the Iko Esai Community Forests and you can see the cluster around Port Harcourt associated with the 2019 City Nature Challenge Port Harcourt organized by @epsi.

The number of observations per month ticked up in mid-2017 and has been relatively steady since then. The peak in October 2017 was from the Kastani Flora project mentioned above.

The top identifiers are the usual identifier champions for most of the African countries we've examined so far. @jakob leads overall and in all categories except plants, birds, and fungi. @cabintom is the second top insect identifier (along with @jakob), @marcoschmidtffm and @abumuazu lead in plants (check out @marcoschmidtffm's Flora of Africa project here and @johnnybirder leads in birds.

What can we do to get more people in Nigeria using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@dotun55 @agboola @taiyeadeyanju @abumuazu @petersoroye @a_s_ringim @jakob @marcoschmidtffm @johnnybirder @cabintom

We’ll be back tomorrow in Suriname!

The tiny Cayman Islands are the 117th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Located south of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, the three islands Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are technically British Overseas Territories. Of the top 10 observers, only @zahnerphoto has observations not centered on Grand Cayman (ie Little Cayman). Everyone else (e.g. @blazeclaw, @sea-kangaroo, @mlodinow, @ehicks1054, @ehjalmarson, @maractwin, @marique, @wyattherp, and @the\_little\_elephant) is clustered on Grand Cayman itself. @caymannature is a nature guide based in the Cayman Islands.

There was a peak driven by @sea-kangaroo in June 2016. Observations ramped up in the winter of 2018/2019.

@maractwin is the top identifier and leads in fish IDs. @mreith leads in plants from the nearby Dominican Republic. @joshuagsmith leads in birds. @birdnerdnariman and @kemper are also top identifiers

What can we do to get more people in the Cayman Islands using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@blazeclaw @sea-kangaroo @mlodinow @ehicks1054 @ehjalmarson @maractwin @mreith @joshuagsmith @birdnerdnariman @kemper

We’ll be back tomorrow in Nigeria!

The Baltic country of Estonia is the 116th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Estonia sits in northeastern Europe on the Baltic Sea with Finland to the north, Russia to the east, and Lativia to the south. The top observer is @jurga\_li southwestern Estonia near the fourth largest city of Pärnu. @peeter, who is helping translate iNaturalist into Estonian, has observations clustered around the second largest city of Tartu. Several other top observers such as @wouterkoch @kaarelv and @qgroom also have observations clustered here. @kaarelv is a bird and nature guide in Estonia. @tiggrx and @inasiebert have observations clustered in the western tip of Estonia near the two largest islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, @almantas observations are widely dispersed across Estonia. Several top observers such as @belyykit and @chalkberg, an Estonian biology student, have observations clustered around the capital of Tallinn.

the number of observations per month seems to have ticked up in 2019, but the huge peak in August was mostly driven by a visit by top observer @jurga\_li.

The top identifier, @kastani, leads in bird and mammal IDs. @almantas leads in plant and fungi IDs while the mysterious @villu leads in insect IDs. Other top identifiers include @ldacosta, @juhakinnunen, and @tiggrx.

What can we do to get more people in Estonia using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@jurga_li @peeter @tiggrx @almantas @belyykit @chalkberg @inasiebert @kastani @ldacosta @juhakinnunen

We’ll be back tomorrow in the Cayman Islands!

The Balkan country of Montenegro is the 115th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Montenegro sits in Southern Europe on the Adriatic Sea with Bosnia-Herzegovina to the north, Serbia to the east, and Albana to the south. @jakob is the top observer, though his position on the map is pulled south by his observations in Albania, most of @jakob's Montenegro observations are in Durmitor National Park. Several other top observers such as @gazdamilan and @stephen54 also have observations clustered around this park. @felixf has observations clustered in Durmitor and also Biogradska Gora National Park to the south - which contains one of the last virgin forests in Europe. there is a cluster of top observers near the capital of Podgorica such as @pourtwowest and @nicolanitti. Another cluster of users is along the Adriatic Sea including @mmarchyllie, @vikula\_bludov, and @beethoven242. @minazaki has been observing so recently that they don't yet appear on the map but now place 9th on the leaderboard with many observations along the coast.

the number of observations per month jumped up in 2019 peaking in June.

@tiggrx leads in plant IDs, @amzamz in insects, @ldacosta in birds and mammals and @cuora1 in herps.
@jakob is a top identifier as well as being a top observer in Montenegro. @ilias\_strachinis is another top identifier.

What can we do to get more people in Montenegro using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread.

@jakob @felixf @pourtwowest @mmarchyllie @vikula_bludov @gazdamilan @cuora1 @ldacosta @ilias_strachinis @amzamz

We’ll be back tomorrow in the Estonia!