November 8, 2022

Find a living fossil to find a living fossil

Wow, almost one year passed after the latest post!

As I assume the past months were full of interesting and new discoveries for you, I consider the grey days of November the right timepoint to re-activate this group - to bring some sparks of joy into going out and finding new stuff even during the upcoming dark, cold and bug-and-flower-deprived winter time.

But it's not winter yet, it's autumn - and that means, prior to snowflakes there are leaves falling!

And one very special tree species is joining this golden rain. The Ginkgo.

It is such an amazing organism in so many ways, and here I will not go into paleontolgy, its unique systematic placement, its conservation status and natural distribution or its cultural significance.

No, I want to point to specific aspects, that, despite its many fascinating features, the Ginkgo is actually a rather unimportant target for us 'biodiversity seekers'.

For once, despite it being extensively planted throughout Europe and being very resistant to extreme temperatures and pollution, and its production of stinky 'fruits', it is actually very difficult to find seedlings, so as to make a 'wild' observation - even finding young Platanus trees is easier.
And secondly, this tree is probably unparalleled in its lack of attractiveness for any sorts of herbivores, arthropod parasites or fungal pathogens - there are next to none!

However, just one day ago I learned something new: There is in fact one species of fungus associated with this tree - and it is neither a parasite, nor a symbiote: Because it develops on the already fallen leaves, where it is easy to spot on the golden background.

That fungus only develops on Ginkgo leaves, so it is strictly depending on a single species.

But there is more: Not only is the Ginkgo a 'living fossil', being the only species of the only genus, of the only family, of the only order of the class (Ginkgoopsida) - so is the fungus! Being the only species in the only genus ... ... of the class (Barteletiomycetes).

Now that's some co-occurring uniqueness!

And what's great: it should be very easy to find - actually the first tree I checked had several spotted leaves, so the biggest challenge for you should be to find out where the next Gingko stands 🙂

So, here is the prize: Bartheletia paradoxa - and almost no one had picked it up so far.

Looking forward to see some more red dots showing up on the map of Germany soon!
Good luck!

Posted on November 8, 2022 11:49 PM by carnifex carnifex | 1 comment | Leave a comment

December 1, 2021

Wunderkammer-Projekt

Hi,
some of you may know Katja (treegrow) here on iNat. I got inspired by a project she created, where she collects all her observations of species not seen by anyone else so far.

It's a great idea, and I think it fits very much with the idea of our iNat-Challenge-Project here, as this might inspire others to go and look for those missing species.

If you want to create one for yourself, you need to make a collection project and manually include all species names. Then you can regularly check your project and as soon as an additional observer turns up in the project overview, you can remove that taxon from the project (better check first the other's observation for a mis-ID 😉)

Here's mine: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/carnifex-s-wunderkammer

Posted on December 1, 2021 09:22 AM by carnifex carnifex | 9 comments | Leave a comment

August 2, 2021

a tiny task ::: Nanophyes marmoratus

Hi everyone,

there are not so many observations for https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/455171-Nanophyes-marmoratus, but it appears that they are often found on Lythrum salicaria (or at least beetles from the same genus). I found some of these tiny fellows today, in the upper parts of the plant between the buds.

Cheers
Monika

Posted on August 2, 2021 05:30 PM by mobbini mobbini | 25 comments | Leave a comment

July 12, 2021

tough one: enbeaver

Hi there,

just learned that there is a specialised beetle living exclusively in Beaver fur: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/212098-Platypsyllus-castoris. Up to now there are three observations on iNat, so if anyone wants to en(d/b)eaver ...? ;-)

Cheers
Monika

Posted on July 12, 2021 05:39 PM by mobbini mobbini | 6 comments | Leave a comment

July 8, 2021

Eurobioblitz 24./25. September

Hi there,

just a short note on another bioblitz: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/eurobioblitz-2021

See you there?
Monika

Posted on July 8, 2021 04:54 PM by mobbini mobbini | 0 comments | Leave a comment

November 15, 2020

stemful

Hello everyone,

I guess too much going on in summer this challenge was a bit out of focus (apart from the esprit @carnifex put into it). But now, leaves falling, insects hiding, and with two Lasioptera observations lately in Leipzig, here is a new one. Let's take deep meditating breaths and look at stems.

I am no expert but I hope the appearance is distinct enough for easy IDing.

Maybe, if someone finds both Lasioptera originated galls intertwined in one photo carnifex will allow it into his Hattrick-challenge even if a third is missing?

Cheers
Monika

Posted on November 15, 2020 09:57 AM by mobbini mobbini | 4 comments | Leave a comment

August 28, 2020

It's HATTRICK time!

So, here's something new for you guys - being a bit different from the 'classic' search for species:

As I am a fan of challenges, I have this going on as a personal quest for some time already, and I wonder why I didn't come up with the idea of promoting it in this group earlier.

Here's the mission: Find three plants of the same genus at the same spot (i.e. visible in one photo).

Too easy, so I exclude it here, is the 'Trifolium-triplet'.
So, for a start, to successfully participate in this challenge, either find three Acer or three Plantago species at the same spot. I managed to find both of these combinations already twice, so it should be doable. Bonus points, if the plants even touch each other 🥰

If you find other combinations, they will be evaluated by me whether they count or not 👨🏻‍🏫

On top of that, I created a new project: Go check out the Similar species in the same photo project and add your findings (not restricted to plants).

Hope you like the idea!

Posted on August 28, 2020 02:24 PM by carnifex carnifex | 11 comments | Leave a comment

July 17, 2020

City Nature Challenge 2021

Hey liebe 'Challenger'!
es ist ab jetzt möglich, sich für die CNC 2021 anzumelden.
Da dieses Jahr keine Stadt oder Region in Deutschland teilgenommen hat, hoffe ich für das nächste Jahr auf stärkere Beteiligung. Es reicht auch erstmal nur eine provisorische Anmeldung, dann kann man immer noch entscheiden ob man mitmachen möchte.
Da ich selber bereits eine CNC organisiert habe, kann ich gerne Tipps und Materialien zur Verfügung stellen.
Im nächsten Jahr bin ich auf jeden Fall wieder mit dabei, ich finde es eine großartige Aktion.

Hier geht's zur Anmeldung!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchGwQC5C8Ek-hHY6LNbzb549jWeuo6CXhohsQPcfPXlfhjdw/viewform

Posted on July 17, 2020 09:23 PM by carnifex carnifex | 11 comments | Leave a comment

July 4, 2020

New Target species - Harebell Carpenter Bee

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/357470-Chelostoma-campanularum is the next target species in the challenge. This small bee is found all over europe on Bellflowers (Campanula). // https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/357470-Chelostoma-campanularum ist die nächste Ziel-art in der Challenge. Diese kleine Biene kommt überall in Europa auf Glockenblumen (Campanula) vor.

Adalia bipunctata, Cheilosia fasciata, Millium effusum, and Cynosurus cristatus are not target species any more, so please don't add any more observations of those species to the project. // Adalia bipunctata, Cheilosia fasciata, Millium effusum, und Cynosurus cristatus sind nicht mehr Ziel-arten, also bitte keine Beobachtungen mehr von diesen Arten zum Projekt hinzufügen.

Currently only me (@alexis_orion), @martingrimm, and @mobbini are curators in the project, so please let me know if you'd like to become one too. // Derzeit sind nur ich (@alexis_orion), @martingrimm und @mobbini Kuratoren im Projekt, sagt mir also bescheid wenn ihr auch mithelfen wollt.

Posted on July 4, 2020 11:12 AM by alexis_orion alexis_orion | 42 comments | Leave a comment

May 12, 2020

New target species - Leafminers

We haven't had a new target species for a while, and with Cheilosa fasciata, Millium effusum, and Zimmermannia liebwerdella leaving the target list soon I thought I'd add a few new ones. Leafminers are a very under-observed group in Germany, so those might be a good fit for
our project. Here are a few fairly distinctive ones to start with:

  1. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/715391-Agromyza-nigrescens
    This species mines on Geranium sp. (I've seen them most on G. molle), here's a link with more information: https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/diptera/brachycera/agromyzidae/agromyzinae/agromyza/agromyza-nigrescens/

  2. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/339405-Phytomyza-ranunculi
    This species can often be found on Ranunculus, Anemone, and Ficaria verna, and can be distinguished from the similar Phytomyza ranunculivora through; "frass grains fine, separated by less than their diameter, often also fusing into pearl strings". Here's a link with more information: https://bladmineerders.nl/parasites/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/diptera/brachycera/agromyzidae/phytomyzinae/phytomyza/phytomyza-ranunculi/

if you make any leafmine observations (some of you do already), I would really Appreciate it if you add them the Leafminers of Europe project on iNat.

Happy iNatting, and good luck finding some leafmines,
Alexis (@alexis_orion)

Posted on May 12, 2020 06:11 AM by alexis_orion alexis_orion | 15 comments | Leave a comment