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Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 11:17 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

The presence of a bright-green squamulose thallus and podetia with distinct, avocado-green "apotheica cups" seems to clearly indicate genus Cladonia, but I couldn't arrive at a good species hypothesis (my best try was C. pyxidata...but that doesn't seem to fit altogether well).

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 16, 2024 a las 11:31 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Nectaring (and picking up a lot of pollen!) on flowers of buttercup (Ranunculus californicus).

The last picture shows the tip of its proboscis tucked under a fold/flap of tissue at the base of the petal that seems to represent a nectary-structure of R. californicus that I wasn't previously aware of.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 16, 2024 a las 12:19 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Thanks to Gene Thomas for showing me these fascinating liverworts.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 10:59 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

Resting on a leaf of bee plant, Scrophularia californica...in a cool, shady, north-facing canyon woodland.

More info on the BugGuide species page here. Alice's observation (from east of Sacramento) show better detail for the upcurved, orange palps.

Powell & Opler(2009) indicate it's a "European immigrant" first found in California in an El Cerrito backyard in 1966, and reared the following year by Powell from black caterpillars found under bark of Quercus agrifolia in the Berkely Hills, 5 km from El Cerrito. By their 2009 publication date, Powell & Opler indicated it had been detected in Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties.

The current iNat records map inset suggests it now reaches much further...i.e. east to Sacramento & beyond in Nevada City; north as far as Arcata; and south to Los Osos. And BugGuide currently has 2 Oregon posts from Corvallis & Portland. (But I'm not certain whether my and all the aforementioned posts are correctly ID'd...perhaps some represent similar-looking members of other species? Here's an enlarged version of the reference photo appearing in Plate 4.32 of Powell & Opler...and the "Moth Photographer's Group" species page.)

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Perejilillo (Bowlesia incana)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 12:27 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Love the distinctive leaves of Bowlesia incana...typically somewhat "wide & short" palmately 3-to-5(+) lobed, with a slightly-cordate base.

The plants are low-growing, inconspicuous ground-covers of shaded woodland habitats. Though a member of family Apiaceae, the umbels are so small, few-flowered, and amorphous that they don't have a typically "apiaceous" look.

This is the only Bowlesia in California...but the genus has many more species in South America.

Bowlesia incana was listed on pg. 653 of the 1968 journal publication "A flora of the San Bruno Mountains San Mateo County, California", which was a precursor of the 1990 CNPS published book of the same name, where B. incana appeared on pg. 65. These were seminal for the much more ambitious 2022 "San Bruno Mountain: A Guide to the Flora and Fauna" by Doug Allshouse & David Nelson...with far more in-depth text descriptions, background information, and extensive color photographs. But Doug & David couldn't cover every species on the mountain at the level of detail they adopted...so some where omitted (among them B. incana).

In the 2nd photo of this observation, the other plant with dainty & distinctive leaves (pinnately-lobed, with well-separated, "stalked", roughly circular lobes) is Nemophila heterophylla...here's another post from the same watershed.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Liquen Parietino (Xanthoria parietina)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 12:22 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Based on attempting to photo-match using Sharnoff(2014) and McCune & Geiser(2009)...my best shot at ID here is Xanthoria parietina. Earlier I was thinking it might be the similar-looking Xanthomendoza hasseana.

Growing on a twig (of Quercus agrifolia?) in mesic, north-facing slope, canyon habitat. Appeared next to other lichens seen in 2nd photo...among which, I think, are Ramalina subleptocarpha (iNat obs 202609608)and Teloschistes chrysophthalmus (iNat obs 202611142).

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Ojos de Oro (Teloschistes chrysophthalmus)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 12:22 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Based on attempting to photo-match using Sharnoff(2014) and McCune & Geiser(2009)...my best shot at ID here is Teloschistes chrysophthalmus.

Growing on a twig (of Quercus agrifolia?) in mesic, north-facing slope, canyon habitat. Appeared next to other lichens seen in 2nd photo...among which, I think, are Ramalina subleptocarpha (iNat obs 202609608) and Xanthoria polycarpa (iNat obs 202611891).

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 12:22 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Based on attempting to photo-match using Sharnoff(2014) and McCune & Geiser(2009)...my best shot at ID here is Ramalina subleptocarpha. I think I'm seeing soredia (= small elliptical areas of fine, powdery-looking roughness) rather than apothecia (= larger discs with smoother, mildly concave centers). If I correctly understood the references...the latter would suggest R. leptocarpha. Another similar-looking possibility might be R. farinacea.

Note that my naive "first shot" was Evernia prunastri ;-).

Growing on a twig (of Quercus agrifolia, if I remember correctly?) in mesic, north-facing slope, canyon habitat. Appeared next to other lichens seen in 2nd photo...among which, I think, are Xanthoria polycarpa (iNat obs 202611891) and Teloschistes chrysophthalmus (iNat obs 202611142).

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Marzo 11, 2024 a las 02:43 TARDE PDT

Descripción

These were spotted by @oceanf on herbaceous stems in grassland along the road side on the ridge.

I think they're braconid cocoons of the subfamily Microgastrinae...see the remarks on this university extension web page...and BugGuide search results for immatures of Microgastrinae.

An interesting photo on the Microgastrinae Wikipedia page shows cleanly circumscissile exit holes...whereas the fascinating video here shows little wasps exiting at more random and irregular spots on the cocoons.

But the wasps in the video are not the microgastrines that formed the pupae...but rather chalcidoid (hyper)parasitoids of the braconid parasitioids. This conclusion is reinforced by noting that:

  • microgastrines have longer antennae than the wasplets in the video,
  • microgastrines are generally not metallic green, and...
  • microgastrines have very different wing venation.

One has to scrutinize the wasplets in the video closely, but if you do you'll notice their wings have hardly any veins at all...and only a tiny vestigial "(ptero)stigma" (e.g. see diagram at bottom of page here). Microgastrines, on the other hand, have numerous "closed cells" in their wing venation pattern...and a large black spot (or "pterostigma"...cf. here about halfway out on the leading edge of the forewing). One can verify these points by perusing many images of adult microgastrines here.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Coniza (Erigeron sumatrensis)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Febrero 21, 2024 a las 06:25 TARDE PST

Descripción

===== Habitat & Habitus of Plant =====

A small group of these plants were clumped at the side of a dirt road in a somewhat disturbed area of Baccharis-dominated coastal scrub. The main plant in view had somehow been "knocked over" but still remained well-rooted and seemed vigorously alive. It was very robust, with repeated-branching just above its base...the branches being thick and very tough (though not truly woody). This individual seemed more like a biennial than an annual. For scale, the blue walking pole is 135 cm long.

===== ID Notes =====

I've recently become somewhat fascinated with the weedy and worldwide-distributed "former-Conyza" species that occur in California. These are: the native Erigeron canadensis; and the non-native (originally South American) E. bonariensis, E. sumatrensis, and E. floribundus (preceding links lead to Wikipedia pages, which give useful info). Although these are not particularly glamorous plants, I'm intrigued by the "disciform" morphology of their flower heads...i.e. having numerous (rather than a single) series of pistillate flowers on the periphery of each head...and, except for E. canadensis, with those pistillate flowers having corollas that are filiform tubular (rather than the "strap-shaped ligules" found in the common daisy-like, or "radiate", members of Asteraceae).

There are lots of informative references & keys in various floras, and on various web sites, addressing how to separate these species. Some that I've found especially helpful are: the Jepson eFlora couplets 9-13; the paper Leaney(2017); the FNA Conyza treatment; and Nesom(2018). Note that the Jepson treatment considers E. floribundus a synonym under E. sumatrensis (and the FNA vice-versa!)...while Neson(2018) asserts E. floribundus is distinct and occurs in a number of CA counties (including San Mateo).

At any rate, here are four characters that support the ID of E. sumatrensis here:

1) The pistillate flowers here (in multiple peripheral series) do not have conspicuously long and wide ligules (as they do in E. canadensis).

2) In a number of heads examined, almost all the disk flowers had 5 lobes. There was one with 6 lobes...but none with 4 lobes. (In E. canadensis most disk corollas have 4 lobes.)

3) The phyllaries here had fairly dense, fine hairs. (In E. canadensis & E. floribundus the phyllaries are typically less hairy, to almost glabrous.)

4) In the last photo of the series, note the red "ribs" on the 3 achenes which are lying horizontally atop the fruiting head. Those red ribs are diagnostic for E. sumatrensis according to the Jepson eFlora key and species description (i.e. see last item in lead 13' and the entry for "Fruit" here).

I think E. bonariensis can be ruled out here...its heads are usually: "chunkier" (e.g. as wide as tall); have a distinctively almost uniform-width band of red-to-purple phyllary tips; and have a distinctively wider peripheral "rim" of pistillate flowers (e.g 5+ series) which noticeably exceed the height of the central disk flowers (giving the gestalt of a peripheral "fat lip" with a "depressed central area" to the heads).

The Jepson eFlora treatment doesn't currently recognize E. floribundus (though, again Nesom(2018) does)...but that species is said to have nearly glabrous phyllaries (unlike here) and those phyllaries are wider and less numerous (when viewing a flower head in profile) than seen here.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Enero 1, 2024 a las 01:21 TARDE PST

Descripción

Fascinating myxomycetes spotted by @oceanf.

I'm just getting into these, so enjoy ferreting out & studying good info resources. This DiscoverLIfe page has macro- and micro-photos and a technical description of the species. A description and overview of the life cycle appears on this UltimateMushroom page.

This iNat link shows a grid view of gobs of recent observations from California...illustrating variation in color of the fruiting bodies from bright yellow through orange, red, and baked-bean brown. The fresh fruiting bodies are short-lived...apparently after about 24 hours they are already drying, beginning to split open and disintegrate to disperse their many tiny dark spores...which, with luck and under favorable conditions, will eventually germinate and give rise to a single-celled amoeboid.

Finally, links to Leocarpus fragilis pages from two good general Myxomycetes references. First, the Leocarpus fragilis page from Stephenson's 1994 "Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds". And second, the key to Physaraceae and Leocarpus fragilis species page from the classic 1925 "Monograph of the Mycetezoa" by Arthur & Gulielma Lister.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Enero 1, 2024 a las 06:31 TARDE PST

Descripción

This colony of exquisitely beautiful mushrooms was found on the north-facing side of a large, standing tree trunk...a bit above head height. The mushrooms were small (I'd estimate < 30 mm?).

Their form fits well with the description of "pleuritoid" mushrooms here. Based on that, and study of resources on the MykoWeb website, I settled on a putative ID of Crepidotus amygdalosporus (description; image...both from the MycoWeb presentation of Hesler & Smith(1965)). I especially liked Hesler & Smith's description stating that the pileus was: "white, pubescent or tomentose, base byssoid"...and how that matched the distinctive tufts of long, erect, silky "hairs" which I had noticed were visible at the base of the pileus in my photo. (I had to look up the meaning of "byssoid", which is derived from the word byssus...and seemed to match those "tufts" perfectly.)

Turns out that C. amygdalosporus has been synonymized under C. caspari (e.g. see here). That had been a prime candidate when studying my copy of "California Mushrooms" (treatment reproduced here)...though no mention was made there of the basal "byssoid" tufts (and the gills seemed more densely-packed in their accompanying photo), so C. amygdalosporus had seemed a better choice. On the other hand, Hesler & Smith(1965) gave mainly eastern U.S. records for C. amygdalosporus, while the MycoWeb page confirmed its presence (as C. caspari) in CA.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Mayo 16, 2023 a las 10:48 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

On a wonderful field trip w/ Steve Matson, a number of us enjoyed puzzling over these woolly stem galls found on shrubs of Tetradymia glabrata, in the family Asteraceae. (See Steve's photos here.)

Searching the literature for gall-inducer candidates known on Tetradymia, I found just one gall midge species (family Cecidomyiidae, Diptera) and three moth species (family Gelechiidae, Lepidoptera).

The cecidomyiid candidate was found by doing a host plant word search on "Tetradymia" within this PDF for Gagné & Jaschof's 2021 catalog of Cecidomyiidae. It yielded only one species, Dasineura tetradymia (= Phytophaga tetradymia = Rhopalomyia tetradymia). Unfortunately, I was unable to find online access to Felt's 1925 original description (on BHL, access to the journal it appeared in stops at 1923).…and very little info is available for it online. The best I could find was this "Gallformers" page...which indicates D. tetradymia forms a woolly, ovoid/globular, lateral bud gall recorded on T. comosa...and that it's polythalamous (= many larvae per gall).

The gall larva here was solitary. And note that cecidomyiid larvae are legless...and have a tiny, black, narrowly-conical head capsule, which is usually largely retracted and only visible as a tiny black "dot"...cf. these BugGuide posts: CL1, CL2, CL3.

In constrast, scrutinizing the larval photos here reveals the presence of 3 small, black, pencil-tip like, larval (true) legs...and a head capsule that's fairly-large and roughly hemispherical (& heart-shaped above). Those characters rule out a cecidomyiid here, but conform well with a moth larva (cf. the gelechiid larva images GL1, GL2).

Ron Russo's recent gall book lists just two gall species associated with Tetradymia, namely: 1) Scrobipalpopsis tetradymiella (MPG, BOLD, Essig, iNat) recorded on T. stenolepis; and 2) Eurysaccoides gallaespinosae (MPG, Essig) recorded on "Tetradymia sp.". Both species are characterized as making stem galls, and both are members of the tribe Gnorimoschemini, in family Gelechiidae. These two species names only appear in a table in Russo’s book, with no additional info given. The same two species are also the only ones associated with host plant Tetradymia in the paper Powell & Povolny(2001) [see “Appendix 2” here]. Like Russo, they associate S. tetradymiella with T. stenolepis, but also cite T. canescens as a host plant (the latter being the host plant given for the type specimen in the original description as Gnorimoschema tetradymeilla by Busck from 1903). And they list T. spinosa as a specific host for Eurysaccoides gallaespinosae. I don't know of any key separating these two gelechiids. The original description of E. gallaespinosae appears in the paper:

POVOLNY, D. (1998): Neopalpa Povolny, gen. n. and Eurysaccoides Povolny, gen. n., two new genera of the tribe Gnorimoschemini from California with the description of three new species (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae).– SHILAP Revta. lepid., 26(103):139-146

So far I've been unable to access that paper (it’s in an open-access journal, but the online archive of past issues currently only goes back to 2019). The adult type specimen for E. gallaespinosae is at the California Academy of Sciences, and two adult images appears on this BOLD page…but those don’t help in trying to ID a gall or larva photo. I’m hoping Povolny(1998) will help clarify some useful distinctions between the galls (and maybe even larvae) of the two species.

Note that there are currently a number of Tetradymia stem gall observations on iNat placed under S. tetradymiella. I wasn’t able to find any remarks/comments under those observations addressing why and whether or not they might be E. gallaespinosae? The iNat observations have a wide range of variation to my eye…from narrowly spindle-shaped and very “furry” to spheroid or watermelon-shaped and less hairy to glabrous. Much of that variation might be attributed to phenology, presence of parasitoids or inquilines, or other eco- and/or environmental factors...which brings me to the next item here.

In 1984, H. Hartman published a three-part series of papers on gelechiid galls on Tetradymia...the most pertinent here being his first paper on “gall size and shape”. Hartman focused on the ecology and variation of both the stem galls of Gnorimoschema (=Scrobipalpopsis) tetradymiella...and also the leaf galls of an undescribed gelechiid moth species he referred to as ”Scrobipalpa sp. n.". Hartman indicated that:

"leaf galls were hollow sessile green spheres when new, becoming wrinkled and
brown after drying."

Both galls were observed occurring on Tetradymia stenolepis, T. axillaris, and T. glabrata (and, he seemed to suggest, other Tetradymia species as well). Hartman noted substantial variation in gall shape & size and made various measurements and statistical analyses in an attempt to correlate that variation with the different Tetradymia host species & various ecological/enviromental variables. The variation Hartman reported may help explain some of the significant variation apparent in the iNat stem gall observations currently placed under S. tetradymiella…but how Povolny’s E. gallaespinosae fits in here is still a mystery! In particular, some of the current iNat observations may correspond to E. gallaespinosae.

Also, given the current number of Tetradymia stem gall observations...it's somewhat surprising no observations of Tetradymia leaf galls have been made. Hartman seemed to suggest the leaf galls were perhaps as common as the stem galls (though presumably smaller & less conspicuous). Note that Hartman's interests focused on ecological questions rather than taxonomy...and the leaf gall inducer he referred to as "Scrobipalpa sp. n." may still lack a formal name/description.

One last note. Some members of the dipteran family Tephritidae form stem galls...and according to Foote, Blanc, and Norrbom(1993), there are two tephritid species, Trupanea jonesi and Trupanea nigricornis, that use Tetradymia (and a number of other genera in Asteraceae) as host plants. However, these two species are not among the gall-inducing Trupanea. Their larvae simply feed on immature ovules and achenes within flower heads. Like most "higher diptera", tephritid larvae are legless and have tiny, pointy, black head capsules (cf. TL1, TL2). Keep an eye out for these too when in the field enjoying the wonders of Tetradymia ;-)

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Diciembre 21, 2023 a las 12:28 TARDE PST

Descripción

Found by @ oceanf on foliage of California Nutmeg (Torreya californica), in damp Douglas Fir/Redwood/Madrone/Oak mixed-woodland.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Diciembre 21, 2023 a las 11:19 MAÑANA PST

Descripción

The orange dendritic & anastomosing network that is spreading over the litter of maple leaves & twigs here is the streaming (pseudo?)plasmoidial phase of an amoeboid myxomycetes (AKA "slime mold"). I think this is a late stage of the process, that begins as a uniformly-filled, forward-moving area, then gradually retracts onto a more reticulate, arterial-like network as the sheet of protoplasm advances. I'm not sure whether this is a gigantic, multi-nuleate, single-celled organism...or a multicellular aggregation...apparently that depends on the what taxonomic group of Myxomycetes this is (which I don't know how to determine).

For more info, see the online botany textbook chapter here and the nicely illustrated newsletter article here. A more thorough resource is:

Stephenson, S.L., & Stempen, H. (1994). Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds.

These (super?)organisms are totally fascinating!

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Salamandra de Piel Rugosa (Taricha granulosa)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Diciembre 21, 2023 a las 11:05 MAÑANA PST

Descripción

Note the dark color of the dorsum extends below the lower eyelid, engulfing the entire eye...which suggests Taricha granulosa. See the CaliforniaHerps Taricha page for more ID details.

Various prey species recorded for T. granulosa are listed on pp.18-19 of Stebbins(1951). Note that they include both terrestial and aquatic organisms...indicating T. granulosa feed in both their terrestial & aquatic life history stages.

Interestingly, Packer(1961) indicates that the congener T. rivularis only feeds in its terrestial phase (it has a shorter aquatic phase while mating in more robustly flowing streams than T. granulosa and T. torosa. The latter two species mate and oviposit in ponds or calmer portion of stream habitats...and spend a longer period in their aquatic stages.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Tritón de California (Taricha torosa)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Diciembre 21, 2023 a las 11:31 MAÑANA PST

Descripción

Note the pale color of the venter reaches the lower eyelid and envelops the eye, so I'm presuming this is Taricha torosa (rather than T. granulosa).

I find it interesting that the tail of this individual appears appreciably "paddle-like"...i.e. laterally flattened, rather than more uniformly-cylindrical as I'd presume the "terrestial stage" would entail (pun somewhat intended ;-). It was not especially close to a stream.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Tritón de California (Taricha torosa)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Diciembre 21, 2023 a las 11:48 MAÑANA PST

Descripción

I presume this is Taricha torosa, since it has the pale color of the venter reaching up to the lower eyelid and a bit above the eye as well.

It's certainly not T. rivularis, due to the presence of a straw-yellow band of color along the upper & lower edges of the (interior of the) eye. [T. rivularis has eyes entirely dark, with no yellow banding.]

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 24, 2023 a las 12:05 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Nectaring of flowers of Agastache urticifolia.

I'm thinking this may be the Coronois Fritillary (Speyeria coronis)...but am not sure and would appreciate correction or confirmation.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 24, 2023 a las 11:09 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

A number of these ambush bugs where present on flowers of Solidago californica. Working with the helpful paper Masonick & Weirauch (2020), I arrived at Phymata metcalfi.

Males appear to have darker (black) maculations, and females a more orange ground color.

This observation is from same time/place/population as iNat observations 186816069 and 180454275.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 24, 2023 a las 11:08 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

A number of these ambush bugs where present on flowers of Solidago californica. Working with the helpful paper Masonick & Weirauch (2020), I arrived at Phymata metcalfi.

Based on the reference images in the key and species descriptions in Masonick & Weirauch (2020), my impression is that the decidely dark-black maculations here indicate a male.

This observation is from same time/place/population as iNat observations 186816959 and 180454275.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 01:20 TARDE PDT

Descripción

@uropappus (iNat obs 180455233) spotted a large number of these rather small beetles feeding & mating on the gently-rounded flower platforms of "yampah" (genus Perideridia...and species parishii, I think, as the leaves were all strictly ternate).

Using the key in Art Evans' wonderful western beetles book...and based, among other things, on the: elytra long (covering nearly the entire abdomen); antennae narrowly moniliform/filiform; and hind legs with 4 tarsi...I got to Tenebrionidae (a family I would not have guessed here...as in my prior experience they've been larger, chunkier, flightless, ground-rovers not associated with flowers). Perusing the photos in Art's book, and cross-referencing with BugGuide, I'm fairly well-convinced this is in genus Isomira from the overall gestalt (e.g. shape of the pronotum, elytra, palps, legs, color, etc.).

From the 2018 Catalog of Tenebrionidae here (see pg. 252) there are 5 species of Isomira known from California: I. comstocki, I. damnata, I. luscitiosa, I. monticola, and I. variabilis.

I. damnata was described in the paper Marshall(1970c), which I was unable to access [bibliographic details under "Print References" here]. The other 4 described CA species (and some of their synonyms) appear in the key and discussions of Casey(1891) and Papp(1956). The BOLD web site has images placed under I. comstocki, I. damnata, I. luscitiosa, and I. variabilis. Species determination in this genus appears to be difficult (due to subtleties/nearness of described distinctions & variation?). As such, I don't see an especially compelling fit with any particular one of these 5 species....but that's OK by me since, with insects, I'm often happy to get to genus ;-).

Note that the antennae seem to be consistently bicolored here (pale tawny/rufous on the proximal few antennal segments & blackish on the distal ones). I haven't noticed such bicolored antennae in other Isomira posts.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 12:46 TARDE PDT

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Mariposa Vanesa Occidental (Vanessa annabella)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 11:16 MAÑANA PDT

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 02:31 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Nectaring on Senecio scorzonella.

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 11:09 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

This is a member of the family Nymphalidae, also known as "brushfoots". Like all insects they have 6 legs, but superficially appear to have only 4...since the two front legs (i.e. "brushfeet") are modified & reduced in size, and are held directly under the head—looking like two fuzzy palps rather than legs.

These seemed especially fond of nectaring on the mint Monardella odoratissima...as seen here. The last photo gives a larger view of a Monardella patch (the wispy plant at left-of-center foreground is Gayophytum sp....perhaps G. diffusum ssp. parviflorum).

I love the sprinklings of violet scales in the small black patches along the trailing edge of the wing. And do you see the "cat face" pattern formed on the upper wings? (A dark brown face, together with orange "eye spots".)

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 25, 2023 a las 02:40 TARDE PDT

Descripción

The first two photos here show this asilid as initially noticed on a sandy opening next to a subalpine meadow. After I'd been observing it for a minute or so in this position, it suddenly made a lightning-quick flight...landing just a few feet away. The 3rd-6th photos show it where it came to rest after that flight, having apparently captured a rufous-colored brachyceran fly in the interim.

The asilid looks quite similar to the individual on the left of the Lestomyia mating pair in this BugGuide post, as well as @kueda's Lestomyia iNat observation here...both also from the Yosemite area. So Lestomyia is my tentative ID (though I haven't tried to formally key it to genus yet...e.g. in the Manual for Nearctic Diptera). I don't currently have a good candidate for the ID of the prey (beyond suborder Brachycera).

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Ortigas Hediondas Y Parientes (Género Stachys)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Agosto 1, 2023 a las 04:51 TARDE PDT

Descripción

======= Edgewood Mystery Stachys =======

Here are more images of a “mystery Stachys” growing at Edgewood County Park that has interested many iNatters recently…for a summary, see observation 172567968 by @sandy_b. Part of the “mystery” here is that Edgewood Stachys plants like the ones seen here (which typically grow in wet, flat areas at the grassland/scrub ecotone) seem quite distinct from the other earlier-blooming Stachys commonly found in oak woodland habitat nearby…but both seem to key to S. rigida.

One aim of this iNat observation is to add some higher-resolution images of vestiture (or "indumentum"), i.e. the form & variety of hairs (or "trichomes”) present on the plants. There appear to be two main types of hairs here:

1) relatively conspicuous, long (&approx;1-2 mm), whitish-translucent, non-glandular hairs that are straightish-to-slightly-wavy and (mostly) spreading (or somewhat inflexed or reflexed). I would tend to call these hairs “silky”…a descriptive term employed by authors of a number of floras, though I’m not completely sure of the precise nuances they may have intended by that term?

2) less conspicuous, much shorter (&approx;0.5 mm), narrower, and often somewhat denser, gland-tipped hairs, that are strictly straight and spreading.

Both the above types of hairs are present on stems, leaves, calyx lobes…even on the outer surface of the corolla (especially on the upper lip). There may also be sessile glands (= tiny, stalkless, spherical blobs of resinous goo)…but it’s hard to tell for sure, as a stalk may appear absent if it's very short, or one is looking "straight down on it" (versus a transverse/profile view).

======= Species ID challenges =======

Obtaining an unambiguous species (or ssp. or var.) placement has been elusive, due to what I think is likely considerable intraspecies variability for a number of characters in the “entity” here (whichever name one may choose to refer to it). But to start, we can eliminate a number of initial candidates: i.e. …

  • S. bullata has a horizontal ring of hairs inside the base of the corolla tube (see Fig. 4390 here)…whereas the ring here is oblique (see the longitudinally split-open corolla in the 1st photo above).
  • S. pycnantha has a relatively short inflorescence of continuously-packed flowers (essentially no interrupted whorls) with just a single pair of fairly-conspicuous opposite bracts at the base of the inflorescence…whereas the plants here have longer inflorescences whose whorls, while quite congested above, have several well-spaced whorls on the lower inflorescence – and each individual whorl has its own sizeable pair of opposite bracts...though they do diminish in size upward.
  • S. albens has heftier stems, with more tangled & cobwebby hairs that are often subequal in length to the stem width (see CalPhotos images here)…whereas in the plants here the stems are narrower, and have shorter straighter hairs.

The plants here lie somewhere between S. rigida and S. ajugoides…but many of us are finding it difficult to place a consistent name on them due to what appear to be ambiguous circumscriptions of various characters suites attributed to the two species. For instance, the primary key character used to separate rigida and ajugoides in numerous regional Floras (e.g. Jepson eFlora, Marin Flora, Plants of Monterey County, Munz(1959), Abrams(1951)) involves the leaf bases:

1) leaf bases narrowed (or wedge-shaped, cuneate)….ajugoides

2) leaf bases rounded, truncate, or cordate…..rigida

…under which these plants would go to S. rigida. But considering other characters for each species (e.g. presence vs. absence of “silky” hairs, relative congestion of upper flower whorls, glandularity, etc.) suggests ajugoides. These two species seem to have a fairly long taxonomic history of “mix & match” ambiguity as evidenced by past & present synonymy (e.g. see the "Synonyms" lines in the Jeps descriptions for S. rigida var. rigida and S. rigida var. quercetorum, and the "Unabridged Synonyms" line for S. ajugoides). In the circumscription of Jepson(1943), only S. ajugoides was recognized (see key here), and Jepson gave an interesting & relevant discussion of variability in the ‘complex’ (see last paragraph on pg. 425 here and its continuation on the following page). Using Jepson’s 1943 treatment this would appear to go to S. ajugoides var. rigida…a somewhat amusing & apropos combination of the two epithets in question ;-). That name is currently synonymized under S. rigida var. rigida.

If one follows the Stachys key in the Jepson eFlora…and tentatively ignores the reference to “silky” hairs at couplet 6…these plants go to S. rigida var. rigida. This plant appeared to have some stems > 1 meter, which per couplet 11 would reinforce the choice of var. rigida. As @randomtruth suggested, perhaps the other distinctly-different earlier-flowering, woodland Stachys at Edgewood that locals there previously referred to S. rigida might correspond to the other variety, S. rigida var. quercetorum? But my hesitations regarding ambiguities mentioned earlier still linger.

@andyjones1 noted these plants seem a good fit with Amos Heller’s S. ramosa…and, overall, the protologue does indeed agree well...though it indicates the corollas have “the tube exserted 2 mm beyond the calyx" and are "densely bearded at the middle on the inside with a horizontal ring of hairs”…whereas in a number of the whorls I looked at here the corolla tubes were not exserted from the calyx (though note the exsertion in the 5th photo here) , and the interior ring of hairs here is oblique and lies near the bottom of the corolla along the “crease” delineating the spur (or “pouch”)…again, see the 1st photo (and also the dried corolla at lower right of the 3rd photo, which shows well the "crease" of the spur/pouch). A small amount of variation in exsertion of the corolla tube seems plausible to me...though I'd expect the position & angle of the "hair ring" interior to the corolla to be a fairly stable character. Images for two of Heller's isotypes for S. ramosa...here and here...were subsequently determined, respectively, as Stachys ajugoides var. rigida in 1992 by Barrett Anderson and Stachys rigida ssp. quercetorum in 1931 by Carl Epling. Currently, both the Jepson eFlora and the World Flora Online list S. ramosa as a synonym under S. ajugoides.

The following two papers may offer insights towards resolving the ID of our “mystery plant”:

EPLING, C.C. (1934). Preliminary revision of American *Stachys*. Feddes Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 80:1–75.

MULLIGAN G.A. AND D.B. MUNRO (1989). Taxonomy of North American species of *Stachys* (Labiatae) found north of Mexico. Naturaliste Canad. 116:35–51

I haven’t been able to access them yet.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Escarabajo de Tres Líneas (Lema daturaphila)

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Junio 17, 2023 a las 07:20 MAÑANA PDT

Descripción

On leaves of Datura wrightii.

There seem to be (at least) two variants of this species: 1) one with two large black spots on a yellow pronotum, head mostly black, and legs black; and 2) another with head , pronotum, and femora red.

This one agrees with those ID'd by S. M. Clark on BugGuide here. (See also the 2nd quote here.)

Fotos / Sonidos

Observ.

arbonius

Fecha

Junio 18, 2023 a las 03:23 TARDE PDT

Descripción

Many of these leafhoppers (family Cicadellidae) were noticed by @keirmorse (see here and here) on the numerous California Buckeye trees (Aesculus californica) along the trail. The last 4 photos in this series give a visual feel for their inconspicuous presence on the buckeyes, showing pairs on leaves & a trio on inflorescence axes.

These cicadellids match fairly well visually with the post by @mcduck taken ~18 air miles to the NNE and tentatively ID'd by Andy Hamilton as Ceratagallia californica under this BugGuide post (see also companion iNat posts 907116 and 18989297). One of those observations was made sweeping grasses...so these may be generalist feeders and not necessarly strongly associated w/ buckeye trees at a host plant.

Fuentes: : Átomo