📜 EwA Week Highlights: Camo Caterpillar, Carpenter Bees, & Observation Quality

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights September 9‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
	EwA Highlights September 9 Hello everyone! Thanks for reading the September 9 edition of the EwA highlights. 📸 Kate E. observed this wavy-lined emerald (Synchlora aerata) caterpillar on Tuesday. Another name for this species is the camouflaged looper, due to its fascinating behavior of fastening bits of its food to its back. Beyond helping the caterpillar to blend in, this can have an especially pleasing effect when flower petals are involved. You can see some tiny yellow petal fragments incorporated into this one’s disguise! EwA iNaturalist Record (© Kate Estrop · Cambridge, MA · Sep. 5, 2023) It’s always a good time to remind our citizen scientists how to improve the quality and potential scientific value of their iNat observations. In this observation of a brown-hooded owlet (Cucullia convexipennis) caterpillar, Bill used iNaturalist’s “observation fields” to record the fact that the caterpillar was found on a goldenrod (genus Solidago) host plant. This is important ecological information to include in your observation when you can. If you scroll down a bit on the original observation, you’ll see that he used the field “EwA - Host Documentation”. If you’re interested in understanding this a bit better, check out the “Enrich Your iNaturalist Observations” section of EwA’s iNat Quick Guide, or take a look at EwA Buggy, a citizen science project that has this sort of arthropod-host data built into the process. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill MacIndewar · Malden, MA · Sep. 3, 2023) You have to go down the list of EwA’s most-observed species a bit this week to find a species we haven’t highlighted recently. I believe that’s the Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica), fifth on the list. Something I hadn’t known about this species is that it can nest either solitarily or socially, with multiple females boring their own perpendicular chambers off of the main access tunnel.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© kdemary · Somerville, MA · Sep. 5, 2023) 📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this past week, totaling 689 observations of 391 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 159,667 observations of 10,038 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) Peak schedule: 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
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