Happy Autumn

Nothing makes an August post trumpeting "4,000 observations" look older than seeing that the project total has nearly doubled since then! Congratulations, everyone! As of this writing, we've cracked 700 species reported to the ESNPS, including many of our focal bees, flies, beetles, and moths. We've gotten confirmations of rare bumble bees like Bombus borealis, B. citrinus, B. fervidus, B. pensylvanicus, and B. terricola; records of rare flies like the wonderfully named Bare-cheeked Bumble Fly (Criorhina nigriventris); and new observations of the rarely encountered hairy flower scarab beetles (genus Trichiotinus) and the flower moths (genus Schinia). Observations on the more common pollinators are also important, as the distribution of these species in NY has never before been fully documented.

We've also wrapped up our second of three years of statewide sampling, and are busily preparing specimens to identify them to species with the help of experts at Cornell University and SUNY Cobleskill. We realize that collecting insects isn't for everyone, which is one of the reasons we're so glad iNaturalist exists. Still, some species cannot be reliably identified from photographs, and a comparison of confirmed records from iNat and our specimen work will help future projects determine when high-quality photography can substitute for specimen collection. So by contributing to this iNat project, in addition to contributing to our understanding of the distribution of so many insect species in New York, you're also furthering the broader field of community science.

Now's the season for catching up with submitting photos if you fell behind during the warmer months. Or if you have a stash of pollinator photos from NY from previous years that you've been hoping to put to use, load them up here! We can make use of insect records from any time period.

As always, thank you for your contributions. I'll be back in touch this winter with some summaries of our findings to date.

Posted on 11 de outubro de 2019, 07:41 PM by mattschles mattschles

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Congratulations! Great news.

Publicado por tniernberger mais de 4 anos antes

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