Archivos de diario de mayo 2019

05 de mayo de 2019

CNC 19 - My personal wrap-up

The competition still has just over 24 hours to go, but I wanted to share some of my thoughts since I'm done uploading...

At the moment, I have uploaded 1371 observations of 532 species.

My personal goal for the competition was to make 1000 observations of as many different species as I could find. (I never did find that darn squirrel! I swear they go into hiding during the CNC!) I'm thrilled to have achieved my personal goal!

Last year I made 757 observations of 437 species. Definite improvement!
And I'm anxious to see the final results on Monday.

Some thoughts about the things that I saw or experienced during the challenge that aren't represented in the photos:

  • Since I could not drive very far, I did all of my observations within 10 miles of my home at various parks and fields that I frequent. It helped to know what species were already there, and where I could find some species I had not already photographed.
  • I moth'ed in my backyard every night. It was one of the best turn-outs I've had in a while! Lots of larger moths, and several new species for my yard.
  • I photographed more grasses and sedges than I've ever done before. I won't remember any of them next week, but if I just keep doing that it will eventually sink in.
  • I also photographed a LOT of plant galls. (Those balls that insects make on plants/trees.) Their variety of shapes fascinate me!
  • My most photographed species (11 times) was of the Venus' Looking-Glass Flower (Triodanis biflora)
  • I had no idea the Brown Thrasher (bird) could sing! I heard him before I saw him and I was mesmerized!
  • I found 2 live caterpillars in the bluebird nestboxes after the young had fledged. I don't know if they were looking for somewhere to pupate, or if they just got lucky and avoided being lunch. 1 was interesting. 2 is curious...
  • I waited 30 minutes to catch a hummingbird, but they were zipping all over the place and chittering so I knew they were there. Never did get a pic. Later, I saw a strange squirrel and tried to photograph it, but it kept jumping from limb to limb and then disappeared. Right above it, in the treetop, was a Black Chinned Hummer that I was able to photograph.

And I love stats, so....

  • Daily totals:
    Day 1: 371 observations, 15 new species
    Day 2: 390 observations, 9 new species
    Day 3: 264 observations, 9 new species
    Day 4: 346 observations, 9 new species

  • Observed taxa:
    341 Plants
    123 Insects
    28 Birds
    26 Fungi
    15 Arachnids
    7 Mollusks
    5 Reptiles
    2 Mammals
    2 Other
    2 Ray-finned fishes
    2 Protozoa
    1 Amphibians

Publicado el mayo 5, 2019 01:24 MAÑANA por kimberlietx kimberlietx | 4 comentarios | Deja un comentario

22 de mayo de 2019

Three banded Leafhoppers/Erythroneura spp et al

Last year I spent some time trying to identify a three-banded leafhopper, which led me to comparing a lot of images of Erythroneura spp on BugGuide. Yesterday I was tagged on one and it got me looking at them again. I thought if I put some images together it might help me (and possibly others) to get to the right species a little easier.

(All the usual disclaimers go with this post. I'm not an expert, just an avid researcher when something interests me. Any species will have variations. This post is not exclusive of any other similar looking species, but I'll try to add them as they come up. You should not rely solely on this post for ID; BugGuide is still the best layperson resource. Consumption may cause stomach upset and/or a laxative effect. Offer valid only at participating locations.)


It's helpful to note that the background yellow stripes can also be red/orange, but the pattern of the brown bands is the first place to start.


Erythroneura calycula (Three-banded Leafhopper)
The first band is thinly U-shaped, covering primarily the eyes. All bands are brown.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/267669/bgimage


Erythroneura cymbium
The first band looks squared or like a barbell more than U-shaped. All bands are brown.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/702934/bgimage



Erythroneura tricincta (Three-banded Leafhopper)
The first band is wide and covers almost the entire pronotum. All bands are brown. Note the same common name as E. calycula.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/18115/bgimage


Erythroneura bistrata
The first band is wide and comes to an angle at the legs. (This is a key feature to differentiate bistrata and tricincta. The distal (bottom) edge of the 1st band curves forward in bistrata creating the angle, and backward in tricincta.) The second band is usually irregular or mask shaped instead of straight lines. The bands often have red coloration too.

BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/228988/bgimage


Erythroneura vitis (Grapevine Leafhopper)
This species has very distinct marks that look like a white circle with a red outline on a brown body. The white bands will be thinner, all edged in red, and the 2nd brown band will be rounded not mask shaped.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/36023/bgimage



Erythroneura diva
The 1st band is brown with red overlaying it. The 2nd is red with brown only on the sides.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/287060/bgpage



Erythroneura integra
The 2nd band is brown with red overlaying it and slightly lower.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/540391/bgimage



Eratoneura arpegia, amethica OR trivittata
The head has no brown band on it. The 1st band curves forward like Erythroneura bistrata, but the 2nd band is brown on the sides and red in the middle. The 3rd band is brown, or red with a brown dot. Note that this is a different genus than the other examples. The species are currently combined on BugGuide into a complex and not in separate species.
BG images: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1485152/bgpage


If you have input on corrections, please comment or message me! These are grossly simplified descriptions for quick ID, but please consult BugGuide for full descriptions and details.

For other genera with similarities, also review
Eratoneura sp https://bugguide.net/node/view/512271
Empoa sp https://bugguide.net/node/view/1492584
Ossiannilssonola sp https://bugguide.net/node/view/723009

Additional resources:
Many Erythroneura have subspecies where one of them will have the three-banded look. Ex: E. rosa var repetita. It's worthwhile reviewing the images at https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Review-of-the-New-World-Erythroneurini-(Hemiptera%3A-Dmitriev-Dietrich/5617d15be17a0ce795c9bb28c50ecf3bb3f21fe7

Photo credits:
E. calycula - John Boback; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7126938
E. cymbium - Kimberlie Sasan; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7290394
E. tricincta - Royal Tyler; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14321359
E. bistrata- Ken-ichi Ueda; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7678269
E. vitis - Timothy Reichard; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14737151
E. diva - Timothy Reichard; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14736007
E. integra - Timothy Reichard; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14816644
E. arpegia/amethica/trivittata complex - Lee Elliott; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1812292

Publicado el mayo 22, 2019 06:25 TARDE por kimberlietx kimberlietx | 6 comentarios | Deja un comentario