iNaturalist

A brownish-red flower with multiple thick petals.

A brownish-red flower with multiple thick petals. It has long brown appendages growing around the central flower.

A brownish-red flower with multiple thick petals.

A brownish-red flower with multiple thick petals.

This stunning member of the orchid family only flowers after it burns. It's called Bodkins Disa (Disa bodkinii) and has only been documented on iNaturalist 47 times!

📷 ntmoolman on iNaturalist
📍 South Africa
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

Reminder that iNaturalist will be offline for 4 hours tonight for some regular maintenance! (Starts Wednesday, November 19 at 7pm Pacific Standard Time.) More details: forum.inaturalist.org/t/scheduled-...

Close-up photograph of a white insect sitting on a flower with a yellow center. Cream-colored text box reads "INSECT PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: • Take a 'safety shot' before approaching slowly for closer photos • Get as close as you (safely) can while maintaining the camera's focus • Take multiple photos from different angles • Include something for scale, whether that's a leaf, a coin, or even your finger! • Photograph both the insect and the habitat around it"

Photograph of a blue insect resting on a green plant stem. Large white text reads "EVERY OBSERVATION COUNTS!" Below in white text: "When you find insects, share your photos on iNaturalist to get an identification suggestion — and from there, the community can help you confirm the species you're seeing. Insects around you contribute to Earth's web of life, and every observation helps us better understand them!"

And when you do, share a photo on iNaturalist! Your photos contribute to real biodiversity research — even photos of the insects you see all the time.

Close-up photograph of an orange and black insect on a fuzzy leaf. White text reads "What qualifies as an insect? All insects have six legs and a body divided into a head, thorax, and abdomen (though sometimes segments can appear fused). They can have two, four, or no wings, varied antenna shapes, and different mouthparts for chewing, piercing, or sipping." Below are three example insect photos showing a beetle, moth, and longhorn beetle.

Grid of nine insect photographs with white text header "SOME OF THE WINGED AND ONCE-WINGED INSECTS YOU MIGHT FIND NEAR YOU:" Photos show: Butterflies & Moths (Order Lepidoptera), Flies (Order Diptera), Grasshoppers, Crickets, & Katydids (Order Orthoptera), Beetles (Order Coleoptera), True Bugs (Order Hemiptera), Dragonflies & Damselflies (Order Odonata), Ants (Order Hymenoptera), Mantises (Order Mantodea), and Stick Insects (Order Phasmida). White text at bottom reads "(There are so many more!)"

All insects have six legs, but beyond that, they're incredibly diverse. Move slowly, look closely, and you're sure to find something cool near you.

Close-up photograph of a praying mantis on autumn leaves with wings spread. White text reads "GO FIND SOME INSECTS"

Close-up photograph of an orange insect with metallic purple-pink eyes. White text reads "There are over one million described insect species on the planet (so far)! You can look for insects anywhere — whether it's right where you live, at a local park, or anywhere you might travel — and you don't need any equipment to get started."

Close-up photograph of an orange insect on a green leaf. Gray text box reads "START SEARCHING FOR INSECTS... • Under rocks, logs, and leaf litter • On (or inside) flowers • Around outdoor lights at night • In garden areas or compost piles • Nestled into tree bark or branches • Near water sources like ponds, streams, wetlands, or even fountains and bird baths • Even sidewalk cracks can host cool insects!" White text at bottom reads "PLEASE CAREFULLY PUT BACK ANYTHING YOU DISTURB!"

There are over a million insect species (that currently have scientific descriptions, at least), and they're *everywhere* ... under rocks, on flowers, around lights at night, in tree bark, and more.

A long, black beetle with ridges running along its thorax and abdomen crawls over some rocks.

A long, black beetle with ridges running along its thorax and abdomen crawls over some rocks.

We're on a mission to document every species, and this photo brought us one step closer! Meet Lenax mirandus — a beetle posted on iNaturalist for the first time just a few days ago.

📷 commoncopper on iNaturalist
📍 New Zealand
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

Thanks so much for the kind words! And apologies for not including alt text on this set of images, we absolutely will for future ones!

Have you seen raccoons in your area? Add your sightings to iNaturalist — your observations can make a direct impact on research like this!

Read more: tr.ee/Sj6pGT

A shorter snout is one of several physical traits linked to domestication. Using almost 20,000 raccoon photos from iNaturalist, researchers found that urban raccoons' snouts were 3.5% shorter than rural ones.

By getting comfortable around humans (hello, garbage buffet), city raccoons may be on the path toward domestication … and community science helped prove it. 🦝

A brown snail with a cone-shaped shell sits on the head of a black salamander with yellow spots.

A brown snail with a cone-shaped shell sits on the head of a black salamander with yellow spots.

A brown snail with a cone-shaped shell sits on the head of a black salamander with yellow spots.

A brown snail with a cone-shaped shell sits on the head of a black salamander with yellow spots.

Snail traveling via salamander express — specifically, a Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra) — not something you see every day.

📷 harukano on iNaturalist
📍 Bulgaria
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

Heads up: iNaturalist will be offline for 4 hours beginning Wednesday, November 19 at 7pm Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8) for some regular maintenance. More details: forum.inaturalist.org/t/scheduled-...

Sound on to hear the first ever audio recording of this cicada species' call! You're looking at (and listening to) the lovely Okanagana aurantiaca.

📷 alvarosj on iNaturalist
📍 Mexico
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

A pink, spiky-looking plant with several appendages.

Carnivorous plants, like this *very* pink Pink Sundew (Drosera capillaris), thrive where few other plants can survive — acidic, sandy, and nutrient-deficient bogs and grasslands.

📷 stevemaldonadosilvestrini on iNaturalist
📍 Puerto Rico
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

A brown and cream spider with spikes on its abdomen crawls across a leaf.

If so, this is the first known photograph of a living member of this species! The last known documentation was a preserved specimen from roughly 150 years ago.

A brown and cream spider with spikes on its abdomen crawls across a leaf.

Based on these photos, some experienced spider-identifiers are suggesting that the individual here might be the species Schenkeliella spinosa.

A brown and cream spider with spikes on its abdomen crawls across a leaf.

Identifying spiders can be challenging, but the iNaturalist community is an amazing resource for learning what features to observe ...

📷 thilinahettiarachchi on iNaturalist
📍 Sri Lanka
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

we're snailposting, post your snails

Hi, we see you scrolling 👀

Take a break and spend a few minutes outside this week looking for mushrooms, lichens, and other fungi near you! (And don't forget to let us know what you see by sharing your photos on iNaturalist. 🍄✨)

📷 White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) by davidknox on iNaturalist

A deer is mid-gallop on a misty plain. If we were anthropomorphizing, we might say it looks quite delighted to be headed wherever it's going.

headed into the weekend like ...

From limpet-identifier rlucine: "Until now, we only had dead museum specimens. P. fluviatilis is unique among Patellogastropoda for preferring an estuarine environment, similar to Patelloida mimula. It is the only known species of Potamacmaea, a genus of Lottiid limpet."

Two gray, craggy limpets stick onto a rock. They could come across as rather unassuming, but are in fact very special!

You're looking at one of the first-ever records of this limpet (Potamacmaea fluviatilis) on iNaturalist!

📷 naturalisttuna on iNaturalist
📍 Myanmar
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

Please enjoy: this absolutely ethereal iNaturalist observation of a Dewdrop Bonnet (Hemimycena tortuosa).

📷 gillessanmartin on iNaturalist
📍 Belgium
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

We're very much arachnid-fans at iNaturalist. Consider this your sign to stop scrolling and go look for some! 👀🕷️🦂

A white sea slug with yellow branching patterning and yellow spots. It also has brown-spotted rhinophores.

Sea slugs never fail to impress. (You're currently looking at the species Halgerda malesso!)

📷 mikejdo on iNaturalist
📍 Mariana Islands
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

"Then, just a few days after I published the description, this observation appeared out of nowhere . It is also the first record for the genus for Brazil, which is interesting as it widens the range of this beautiful and elusive species.”

From Rodrigo: “This genus was previously know only from Asia and Africa, and they are quite distinct flies to stay ‘out of the radar.’ When I found the three specimens from Paraguay at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, it was already a big surprise."

Entomologist Rodrigo Dios wrote the scientific description based on specimens collected in Paraguay. A few weeks after publication, biologist Bruno Henrique Aranda shared an iNaturalist observation of the species in Brazil — the first record for the country.

This incredible fly (Hermya anhamberu) is a newly described species! 🧵⤵️

📷 aranda87 on iNaturalist
📍 Brazil
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay