📜 EwA Week Highlights: A Trip to the Beach and a Dobsonfly (the Essence of Summer)

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights July 7, 2025 Hello everyone,  Thanks for reading the July 7th EwA highlights. 📸 I love checking tide pools for life whenever I’m at a moderately rocky beach (especially if it’s low tide). These seashore springtails (Anurida maritima) are one of the more common sights in those tide pools, sometimes even if those pools are well-trodden by beachgoers. This species of springtail is present in rocky seashore habitats all over the world, and like most springtails it scavenges for its food. You’ll often see them in aggregations on the surface of a pool like this. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Michael McGlathery · Manchester, MA · July 6, 2025)  Seeing certain species just feels like summertime, and one of those species for me is the eastern dobsonfly (Corydalus cornutus). These insects are remarkable for their size (reaching upwards of 9 cm (3.5 in)) and the huge mandibles on the males. You should be more afraid of the jaws of the female (pictured here), though—they can give a painful bite that the males can’t! Dobsonflies are one of the more eye-catching insects that might show up on a screen door or under an outdoor lamp this season, and this observation from Kate is EwA’s first eastern dobsonfly observation this year. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Kate Estrop · Bethel, VT · July 4, 2025)  Yup, it’s bumblebee season: the brown belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis) was again EwA’s most-observed species this week. These native bees have shown themselves to be quite adaptable, and tend to do well in a variety of habitats including densely populated cities and suburbs.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© kdemary · Arlington, MA · July 5, 2025)  📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 1,112 observations of 571 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 243,229 observations of 12,753 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 Summer [ 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) It’s a great time to join our monitoring programs. 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 all for this week—hope you have a good one! -Mike