A Bug for Dan

[John53]

Looks like it does the job and the proof is in the portrait.

That would be a good time for a photo shoot with paper wasps. Less likely to get irritated I would think and still enough light for a picture.

I used to wipe out their nest until I discovered a few years back that they're an important pollinator. I've never been stung, these ones don't seem very aggressive. The neighbour got stung when he stood on one but I put that down as self defence.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I used to wipe out there nest until I discovered a few years back that they're an important pollinator. I've never been stung, these ones don't seem very aggressive. The neighbour got stung when he stood on one but I put that down as self defence.

They can be aggressive when they feel threatened. I have some minor experience with that as I mentioned. I've been stung by several different wasps and bees. Even ground nesting bees that aren't that aggressive by comparison. In fact, the more social, the more they seem to respond aggressively to incursions on their nests. But it varies with species and maybe even individuals.

They are important predators too.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I used to wipe out there nest until I discovered a few years back that they're an important pollinator. I've never been stung, these ones don't seem very aggressive. The neighbour got stung when he stood on one but I put that down as self defence.

I tend to leave them to their own devices unless there is some risk due to where they decided to build.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

On the subject of wasps and stings, a good friend of mine was stung by a bullet ant while trying to photograph some insects in a tree during an expedition in Ecuador. It got him in the back if I recall correctly and he described it like being shot. Hence the name.

Oddly, they aren't in Australia.

Paraponera clavata - Wikipedia

 

[John53]

On the subject of wasps and stings, a good friend of mine was stung by a bullet ant while trying to photograph some insects in a tree during an expedition in Ecuador. It got him in the back if I recall correctly and he described it like being shot. Hence the name.

Oddly, they aren't in Australia.

Paraponera clavata - Wikipedia

We don't want them!

 

[Dan From Smithville]

We don't want them!

You don't need them.

 

[John53]

I tend to leave them to their own devices unless there is some risk due to where they decided to build.

The wasps are Australian Paper Wasps. They have an interesting social life. Polistes humilis - Wikipedia

 

[Dan From Smithville]

So, I just spent the last few hours painstakingly copying observations from iNaturalitAU iNaturalist Australia into a spreadsheet for a species of beetle found in North America, Gnorimella maculosa, the maculated scarab. There is a claim of a record for Missouri, but no reference specimen or information supporting that record other than mention in a book I have. I've been looking for this species for a long time in the state with no luck. I found two recent records of observations in Missouri and for locations not that far from me either.

I didn't expect to find observations for North America. I thought it was an Australia nature site. Apparently, they have a much wider scope.

This species is rare to very uncommon. It is found in eastern North America from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, north to New York, southern Canada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Photos at Photos of Maculated Scarab (Gnorimella maculosa) · iNaturalist Australia

I'm not sure if this effort means I'm dedicated, obsessive or fighting sleep, but there are more records to copy. I just can't go on tonight.

I'm going to find this beetle in the field one of these days.

 

[John53]

So, I just spent the last few hours painstakingly copying observations from iNaturalitAU iNaturalist Australia into a spreadsheet for a species of beetle found in North America, Gnorimella maculosa, the maculated scarab. There is a claim of a record for Missouri, but no reference specimen or information supporting that record other than mention in a book I have. I've been looking for this species for a long time in the state with no luck. I found two recent records of observations in Missouri and for locations not that far from me either.

I didn't expect to find observations for North America. I thought it was an Australia nature site. Apparently, they have a much wider scope.

This species is rare to very uncommon. It is found in eastern North America from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, north to New York, southern Canada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Photos at Photos of Maculated Scarab (Gnorimella maculosa) · iNaturalist Australia

I'm not sure if this effort means I'm dedicated, obsessive or fighting sleep, but there are more records to copy. I just can't go on tonight.

I'm going to find this beetle in the field one of these days.

I was asked to put some of my photos on there for a christmas beetle project and through the signing up process it informed me my personal details would be shared overseas. I wasn't sure what that meant so backed out of it.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I was asked to put some of my photos on there for a christmas beetle project and through the signing up process it informed me my personal details would be shared overseas. I wasn't sure what that meant so backed out of it.

I don't know beyond a name, what personal details they would need. I see some names associated with copyright, but I also see online pseudonyms used as well.

Apparently, this isn't just based in Australia and is global. I've not used it or looked through it much before, but seeing the data available, it is fantastic.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I was asked to put some of my photos on there for a christmas beetle project and through the signing up process it informed me my personal details would be shared overseas. I wasn't sure what that meant so backed out of it.

I'm a member of Bugguide, but it is largely US/North America in coverage. I don't recall needing a great deal of personal info to join up.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I was asked to put some of my photos on there for a christmas beetle project and through the signing up process it informed me my personal details would be shared overseas. I wasn't sure what that meant so backed out of it.

Have you tried a pseudonym? I think Ken Garoo, Ken G. Roo or King Aroo would be cool.

 

[John53]

I don't know beyond a name, what personal details they would need. I see some names associated with copyright, but I also see online pseudonyms used as well.

Apparently, this isn't just based in Australia and is global. I've not used it or looked through it much before, but seeing the data available, it is fantastic.

I can't really remember what details I had to give. I do remember getting nervous at the wording of personal info sharing. It was only a couple of months ago so it's concerning that I don't remember.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I can't really remember what details I had to give. I do remember getting nervous at the wording of personal info sharing. It was only a couple of months ago so it's concerning that I don't remember.

I keep it in mind, but I'm already on Facebook and Twitter or X (that's so stupid). Nobody swats you for being interested in insects thankfully. As to other issues like identity theft, I do keep that in mind when I post places.

I copied down the names of the contributors, but I'm not sure if I would need that to publish or not. I'd rather not, though it is available from a publicly accessible site, since that is how I got it. But I'm thorough and added a column to my spreadsheet for it. Normally, the collector of a specimen is sited as part of the label information. I'll find out how observations without specimens needs to be referenced. I've not done that before.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I can't really remember what details I had to give. I do remember getting nervous at the wording of personal info sharing. It was only a couple of months ago so it's concerning that I don't remember.

I'm looking through the registration process. It looks pretty standard, but I'll dig deeper.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I can't really remember what details I had to give. I do remember getting nervous at the wording of personal info sharing. It was only a couple of months ago so it's concerning that I don't remember.

The iNaturalist servers are in the US and the EU no longer considers it safe to pump information into the US from outside, since our government may be looking and listening. I'm not sure that I have anything they don't already know about, given I'm here. It is more of a consideration for those signing up outside the US. Our data is already compromised by being here I guess.

 

[John53]

Looking at some old photos this morning and came across these. It could be a new sport... guess the spider in the birds beak.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Looking at some old photos this morning and came across these. It could be a new sport... guess the spider in the birds beak.

View attachment 87650View attachment 87651

Cool biology in action shots. I couldn't begin to make an effective guess on the ID. Big one and little one.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Just wanted to let you know, I joined iNaturalist. I think the data that is available on that site will be invaluable to my studies.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

These aren't my photos, but with your interest in eyespots in mind, I thought you might enjoy these.

Natural selection has resulted in a fairly convincing mimicry for the pupae of this species making them less attractive to predators.

This is the adult.