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Found flying and then perched while wading in the knee-deep Carmel River, searching for birds in riparian habitats. I posted this to CalOdes: "I posted this on CalOdes: "The male darner had prominent yellowish-green thoracic strips, and another pair atop the thorax; a greenish-white face; dark grayish eyes;

many large blue spots atop abdomen and a pair of small ones on s10; and odd-looking appendages that I could not get an adequate angle at to resolve." Various experts agreed this was Paddle-tailed Darner: the record is archived & vetted at Odonata Central, at OC#440661, where more information is available. This was only the 2d record for Monterey County; the first were at Elkhorn Slough NERR near Moss Landing

I figured out the ID of the big beetle in this photo (Buttercup oil beetle or American oil beetle), but note the small insects on her back. I read that the larvae of this beetle hitch a ride on bees so they can sneak into a bee nest and eat bee larvae. So it doesn't seem like these would be the buttercup oil beetle's babies ...?

@steve_nanz @paul_dennehy @neoarctia @treichard

Left saccular projection bent to 90° and apex chisel shape; right ptojection mostly thick and straight with rounded fairly blunt apex, lacking dinosaur head; mesad on the right side there is a medial triangular tooth lacking setae, and a heavily setose dorsal projection that is much longer than the posterior margin of the valva.

Spec #45307

Link to confirmed observations nearby: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180822630 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/167099765

At first glance, these California Groundcones look like pine cones. These (decomposing/falling apart) parasitic groundcones were about 2 inches tall, possibly growing over roots of Manzanita and Chamise shrubs in a Monterey Pine forest.

California Groundcone (Kopsiopsis strobilacea) formally called Boschniakia strobilacea. Native, perennial, parasitic plant in the Broomrape (Orobanchaceae) family that grows 1-3 dm (4-12 inches tall). It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in chaparral or on wooded slopes. It is parasitic on Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) and Madrones, which it parasitizes by penetrating their roots to tap nutrients. Stems are erect and simple. It has no leaves. The inflorescence is spike-like, generally reddish-brown to brownish-purple. Bracts are densely overlapping. Flowers emerge from between the overlapping bracts.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=93802

There are 4 observations in Monterey County as of 7/9/23 on Calflora: https://www.calflora.org/entry/observ.html?track=m#srch=t&lpcli=t&taxon=Kopsiopsis+strobilacea&chk=t&cch=t&cnabh=t&inat=r&cc=MNT

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 223-224.

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=5890
(good photos of the plant)

(The) Monterey Pine Forest: Coastal California's Living Legacy, 2nd. ed, The Monterey Pine Forest Watch, 2018. (excellent book).

One of several specimens found on underside of log in moist environment. Photo #1 taken on site with flash fill. Photo #2 taken through microscope, about 4 hours after capture under poor light conditions.

Thanks to V. Belov and Boris Bueche at BugGuide.net for the ID: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2060934

New species and genus for MBP!

Rock Creek Stream Valley Park, S. of Twinbrook Parkway x Veirs Mill Road, Rockville, Montg. Co., Maryland; Kensington quad