Mike McGlathery
Hello everyone!
June is here, and that means the best time of year to observe and document arthropods has arrived. While it can be interesting to try and detect arthropod activity at any time of year, the summer months bring a wave of arthropod life that’s hard to miss. Let’s take a look at what our citizen scientists saw this week!
📸 Claire took this cute shot of a sawfly larva (genus Periclista) eating an oak leaf on Wednesday. What you’re seeing in this picture is just the head of the caterpillar-like larva peeking over the edge of the leaf.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Claire O’Neill · Middlesex, MA · Jun. 1, 2022)
The high season for observing arthropods always presents a good opportunity for learning about arthropod diversity. This scorpionfly (family Panorpidae) is in fact neither a scorpion nor a fly, but it is theorized that flies first evolved from closely-related ancestors of scorpionflies.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Joe Macindewar · Middlesex Fells Reservation, Massachusetts · Jun. 4, 2022)
In observing arthropods for EwA, you sometimes find yourself with the opportunity to submit the first record of a species to EwA’s biodiversity projects! That happened this week, when Bill and Joe both photographed this cyrano darner (Nasiaeschna pentacantha) on the same day.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill Macindewar · Stoneham, MA · Jun. 4, 2022)
Alongside the increased number of arthropods in the summer come all of the different organisms that prey on and parasitize them. Deana spotted one of those organisms this week when she documented this insect destroyer fungus (Furia ithacensis) that had taken the life of an ill-fated fly.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Deana Thomas · Pomfret, CT · Jun. 3, 2022)
📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this past week, totaling 887 observations of 468 distinct species. If you’re curious about the records from this week that have been validated by the iNat community so far, you can find them » here.
🏆 Running tally: To date, we have recorded 107,348 observations of 7,880 distinct species! Check out our EwA umbrella project, see the details per site/observer, and more » here.
📅 EwA Upcoming Public Events
Ewa Field Events » Check the EwA Spring Program [ Event details and registration » ] Don’t miss some great opportunities to follow the rhythm of the season in our local habitats and in the local wildlife! Space is limited for all our field events. Wildlife ethics is important to us and we seek to avoid putting the pressure on natural habitats which large gatherings unavoidably do. We are asking our audience to register-and-commit (or cancel when you know you can’t come) to avoid no-shows.
EwA Fieldwork (and Resources)
Peak schedule: Our monitoring programs are in full swing, and are occurring every week this time of year. Check EwA’s Volunteer Program Calendar 📅 to know when things happen. And if a session is of interest to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to get the rendezvous location.
📅 EwA Sites Map | 🌱 Site Protocols and Guides · Field Rosters · Field Notes » All here! | ℹ️ More about EwA’s Citizen Science Program » Here
❓ Do you have any questions? Don’t be shy. Just email me or reply to this thread.
That’s it for this week—until next time!
-Mike