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Text of the page (random words):
cher forced me to expand the topic a little by including some plants although interested in insects he found contemporary guides lacking and thus got into birdwatching i also got involved in local naturalists societies working on reserve work parties or watching over nests of little terns he recalls here s a picture of me on the left from the local newspaper sometime in the mid seventies by the 1990s donald equipped with the internet and improved field guides got into mothing and graduated from sketching below to digital photography he eventually started working for the global biodiversity information facility gbif in 2007 and says since then i ve had the privilege of working on international efforts to improve access to biodiversity data gbif atlas of living australia now international barcode of life and species 2000 personally i ve continued to study and photograph moths and pretty much any other species i encounter one of those species of course is the remarkable insect at the top of this page looking for caterpillars in the eucalyptus leaf litter by his home in canberra donald placed some leaves in this emergence trap one of the first insects to appear sitting on the inside of the upper plastic container was this larva he explains i would never have spotted it sitting on the surface of a leaf even on the clear plastic at first glance it could have been a dirty spot or some mould the projections from the abdomen softened the shape considerably it mostly sat very still with the jaws completely drawn back and hidden behind the front fringe of the abdomen at one point it was sitting facing very close to the edge of the tin and an ant ran past in front of it the jaws clearly snapped shut and hit the edge of the tin because there was a ringing noise and it was propelled backwards several centimeters lacewings are members of the order neuroptera an order which includes other insects such as antlions and owlflies and the bizarre and totally cool mantidflies split footed lacewings like this one are actually taxonomically distinct from the more familiar green and brown lacewings but like other neuroptera larvae they have large mandibles and are predatory after undergoing metamorphosis they will look like this donald above in madagascar has been an inat user since 2012 and uses it to manage his own observations he adds ids to observations of plume moths where he is far and away the top identifier as well as australian lepidoptera i greatly appreciate the expertise of others who amaze me with their wide international knowledge of groups i consider much more difficult than moths beetles true bugs grasshoppers etc i also value the way that inaturalist enables my observations and those of the whole community to contribute via gbif to research questions conservation and improving the knowledge base we need to understand biodiversity patterns and trends i continually recommend inaturalist as far and away the best and most comprehensive platform to amateur naturalists and others to share their observations and learn from one another by tony iwane photo of donald hobern in madagascar by kyle copas you can check out more of donald s photos on flickr green lacewing larvae will cover themselves with debris including the remains of their prey this isn t the first larval neuropteran that was chosen as observation of the week 2019 06 24 a parasitic plant rises from the desert in jordan observation of the week 6 24 19 our observation of the week is this cynomorium coccineum plant seen in jordan by fragmansapir currently the scientific director of the jerusalem botanical gardens dr ori fragman sapir works on endangered plants flower bulbs doing ecological and taxonomic research he also leads tours in israel the mediterranean and the caucasus while on an excursion to the southern part of jordan for his birthday this past april when dr fragman sapir came across the small plant seen above it was amazing to see this parasite coming out of the dry sands as if it was a miracle he recalls those red stalks are pretty much the only parts of the plant one can see above ground and they re source of this species myriad common names such as red thumb desert thumb and the bizarre and misleading maltese fungus a completely parasitic plant cynomorium coccineum contains no chlorophyll and spends most of its existence as a rhizome an underground stem think ginger or lotus roots leaching nutrients and water its host plant or plants in spring the plant will send up its inflorescence which is covered in tiny flowers flies are attracted to the cabbage like smell of these flowers and serve as the plant s main pollinators dr fragman sapir above has recently started posting his photos to inaturalist and hope it becomes a place where can have all of his observations in one convenient place where others could enjoy and learn as well by tony iwane dr fragman sapir has authored or coauthored several books some in hebrew and some in english including flowers of the eastern mediterranean many cultures have believed cynomorium coccineum can cure multiple ailments such as ulcers anemia hypertension and impotence it s flesh is also edible as a food source check out this video about dodder another type of parasitic plant and watch it choose a host 2019 06 18 a chilean flamingo and an america flamingo meet in mexico observation of the week 6 18 19 our observation of the week is this unlikely pair a chilean flamingo on the right and an american flamingo on the left seen in mexico by luisave about three years ago an american flamingo arrived in the mexican city of león guanajuato establishing itself in metropolitan park it was around this time that luis mauricio mena páramo luisave began his bird inventory of the city since then luis has documented 188 species in the city mexico s fourth largest and on may 29th of this year he photographed a second flamingo in metropolitan park after discussions on both inaturalist and in local birding fora the second flamingo was confirmed as a chilean flamingo a species that naturally ranges in the western and southern parts of south america and has been introduced in some parts of europe and the united states luis s photo is the first photo on inaturalist of a wild chilean flamingo in central america and well out of its normal range so far explains luis we have no knowledge or information about the possible origin and permanence of this bird what we can know is that the american flamingo that also inexplicably arrived at the park more than three years ago has given it an excellent welcome perhaps it is a historical record in which two wild flamingos of different species coexist together and are very well adapted to each other like other flamingos the chilean flamingo uses the filters in this beak to feed on algae and invertebrates and the carotenoids in their food cause the pink coloration of the birds plumage just one egg is laid per mating pair and it rests on a raised mud nest both parents are able to produce crop milk to feed the young bird after it hatches luis above at metropolitan park with both flamingos in the background is turning his bird inventory into a book titled primera guía de aves de león and he tells me i use inaturalist virtually every day in order to learn more about the world around me and also to share my observations with a community of naturalists it is clear that without the support of the inaturalist platform i would not have gotten this far in my fifties i think it s been the best way to invest my free time doing what i really like it s a good way to transcend to this day both flamingos continue to reside in the metropolitan park of león and i have practically watched and photographed them every day it has been amazing this story of adaptation to the urban environment and i feel very fortunate to share it with all of you by tony iwane some quotes have been edited for clarity a group of chilean flamingos dance in this video scientists have found that flamingos are more stable on one leg than two 2019 06 13 rhino vs elephants in namibia belated observation of the week 6 13 2019 our observation of the week is this confrontation between a black rhinoceros and a group of african elephants seen in namibia by jerrythornton jerry thornton who grew up next to the wichita mountains national wildlife refuge but now resides in southern california describes himself as an amateur naturalist with a lifelong love of both nature and photography his wife who is a freelance wildlife writer will often research a topic and jerry comes along to photograph her trip they ve been to africa and south america and also go scuba diving which we like to view as underwater safaris he says the dramatic series of photos you ll see in this post were taken by jerry during a tour of nambia he and his wife went on back in 2014 they had stopped at the moringa waterhole in etosha national park to and at first saw pretty standard waterhole behavior however after about half an hour a black rhinoceros approached i ll let jerry take it from here the elephants began to get agitated as soon as the rhino arrived even before it stepped into the water with the elephants rapidly backing out of the water ears fully extended and bellowing much more than they had been just five minutes before and they became even more agitated as soon as the rhino stepped into the water forming the wall of elephants seen in the first of the photos as the rhino stayed longer and longer other elephant family groups would approach and then back off after seeing the rhino sometimes their young males trying their luck at intimidating the rhino through bellows ear waving and as in the photo even trying to blow water at them eventually one of the young males got too close and the rhino decided it had taken enough harassment chased the offending elephant off in a cloud of dust and then returned to the waterhole unfortunately we could only watch this for about another hour but the rhino was still soaking in the waterhole when we left and we had to assume it left on its own terms while it s difficult to know exactly what motivated these behaviors jerry tells me he s learned elephants hate and fear rhinos since they are one of the very few animals that can by themselves cripple or kill an adult elephant rather easily and having a rhino so close to their young brought out their worst most interesting behavior jerry above discovered inaturalist recently when trying to identify butterflies and flowers brought around by southern california s rainy winter as i realized its potential for more accurately identifying all types of plants and animals he explains i began to post my past observations with the goal of learning and providing observations and photos for others by tony iwane here s an annotated video showing a rhino and an elephant with a bit of a misunderstanding the new york times has a nice article and video about an elephant s amazing nose 2019 06 08 feather stars and the wonderful weirdness of marine invertebrates observation of the week 6 8 19 our observation of the week is this feather star seen in indonesia by maridom when i began diving some 25 years ago i marveled at the beauty of sea life and was astonished to discover so many colors and forms so many animals never seen on land says maridom then i became interested to learn more about the ecosystem and biology and while she says most new divers think mainly about seeing fish she likes to emphasize the beauty and diversity of marine invertebrates in when teaches marine biology courses i mostly am interested in phyla which seem weird to us terrestrial beings such as cnidaria and echinodermata she says and during my last trip to the philippines i jokingly became known as queen of ascidiacea as soon as i see something beautiful under the sea i point my camera to it and sometimes i come away with a successful photo the photo of this comatula this one of those the colors are nicely contrasted and the shape of its arms are so delicately drawn while sea stars and sea urchins are more familiar members of the phylum echinodermata feather stars like the one maridom photographed belong to a totally different subphylum called crinozoa which are also called sea lilies they often have ten or more arms surrounding the mouth and capture planktonic organisms with tube feet on the arms moving the food down the arm in a blob of mucus maridom above in egypt has been taking photographs on her dives for the last decade and she tells me it changed my way of diving and looking at living beings even the small and weird ones and i could not do without it now then at home trying to identify the species in my photographs brings back happy memories of the trip i like to call things by their name while diving as if i was part of their world she discovered inaturalist about three months ago and has been uploading photos from her archive each morning when i open my computer the first thing i do is see if my unidentified strange things have now received an id many thanks to all identifiers i love the way inaturalist works where all over the world people keep connected and give from their personal time to help identify observations from others i think probably when i was in the philippines last month it changed my way of taking pictures and looking at unknown things by tony iwane some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and flow feather stars can swim and crawl both of which look really cool and strange 2019 05 27 a birder spots an orchid in algeria observation of the week 5 27 19 our observation of the day is this sawfly orchid seen in algeria by karimhaddad karim haddad was born in the algerian city of constantine but pursued his graduate studies in odessa ukraine where he earned a phd in agribusiness after being very touched and inspired by the museums at ukraine educational institutions karim began to collect some skins horns wood sperm whale teeth mollusk shells old nests unfertilized eggs bird feathers and butterflies and also got into bird photography he now splits his time between the two countries and has been leading excursions for birders and other naturalists in algeria since 2016 becoming algeria s representative for the african bird club in 2018 and while birds and bird excursions are a specialty of his karim is interested in many other taxa including orchids like the sawfly orchid he photographed above which he says are very exciting their shapes colors and sizes attract every naturalist and that s why i never miss them the world is so vast and interesting that it can be appreciated all together sawfly orchids are members of the genus ophrys which are also known as bee orchids members of this genus mimic the pheromones and appearance of female insects attracting males of those species to the flower while the male tries to mate with the flower an act called pseudocopulation its body picks up pollen which it then brings the next flower ...