Το Ημερολόγιο του South Australian iNaturalists

Results are in for the City Nature Challenge 2020. Check out the official results summary in the global CNC project journal, and our local results in the Greater Adelaide CNC project journal.

Here are the latest iNat Umbrella, Collection and Traditional projects created for South Australia. Let me know if I've missed any. The original list has been updated to included these.

Collection Projects - By Place & Taxa
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Herps of Greater Adelaide (2) (0)

Collection Projects - By Place
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Banrock Station (1) (0)

Collection Projects - Groups
Project Title (Project Members) (News Posts)
Belair Boners' Bonanza (1) (0) - Restricted Membership

Participation in the City Nature Challenge this month has pushed the monthly totals sky high with all previously monthly records in SA being broken. In fact for most counts we doubled our monthly average.

This month we had 306 users upload 11,473 observations with 236 species observed for the first time, bringing our totals to 96,054 observations of 5,769 species.

There were 134 first time observers in South Australia, more than double the previous month, bringing the total to 1,881.

We also broke the record for total number of species observed during the month, pushing it from 1,537 up to 1,743.

Top 10 observers for the month: cobaltducks (1,646), stephen169 (1,034), davidsando (922), mendacott (521), davemmdave (486), wattlebird (291), mtank (269), mangoparker (234), rfoster (227) & presidentfobhm (225).

Top 10 identifiers of observations in SA for the month: ellurasanctuary (1,576), thebeachcomber (1,438), stephen169 (1,156), alan_dandie (1,041), cobaltducks (742), rwl (658), mendacott (486), reiner (334), streglystendec (289) & vicfazio3 (278).

Observations Made in April 2020

Common Name	Taxon	Observations	Species	Most Observed This Month
Vertebrates
Birds	Aves	2,097	156	132 x Gymnorhina tibicen (Magpie)
Mammals	Mammalia	203	18	72 x Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala)
Reptiles	Reptilia	159	35	28 x Lampropholis guichenoti (Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink)
Amphibians	Amphibia	32	7	7 x Crinia signifera (Common Eastern Froglet)
Ray-finned Fishes	Actinopterygii	119	57	10 x Phycodurus eques (Leafy Seadragon)
Cartilaginous Fishes	Elasmobranchii	3	2	2 x Heterodontus portusjacksoni (Port Jackson Shark)
Insects
Flies	Diptera	264	59	24 x Hylorops sp.
Dragonflies & Damselflies	Odonata	46	6	31 x Hemicordulia tau (Tau Emerald)
Beetles	Coleoptera	141	49	23 x Harmonia conformis (Large Spotted Ladybird)
Bees, Ants & Wasps	Hymenoptera	439	58	71 x Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee)
Butterflies & Moths	Lepidoptera	1,514	192	72 x Danaus plexippus (Monarch)
Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids	Orthoptera	80	23	12 x Phaulacridium vittatum (Wingless Grasshopper)
Earwigs	Dermaptera	14	1	5 x Forficula auricularia (European Earwig).
Antlions, Lacewings, & Allies	Neuroptera	19	6	4 x Chrysoperla sp. (Common Green Lacewing)
Stick Insects	Phasmida	3	2	1 x Ctenomorpha marginipennis (Margin-winged Stick Insect)
Barklice & Booklice	Psocodea	3	2	2 x Psocomorpha sp.
Caddisflies	Trichoptera	1	1	1 x Leptoceridae sp. (Long-horned Caddisflies)
Cockroaches & Termites	Blattodea	46	14	4 x Calolampra sp.
Mantises	Mantodea	22	3	13 x Orthodera ministralis (Australian Green Mantis)
True Bugs, Hoppers & Aphids	Hemiptera	117	39	9 x Glycaspis brimblecombei (Red Gum Lerp Psyllid)
Other Animals
Mollusc	Mollusca	206	76	24 x Ischnochiton elongatus (Elongate Chiton)
Echinoderms	Echinodermata	23	13	3 x Petricia vernicina (Velvet Sea Star)
Comb Jellies	Ctenophora	0	0	No observations this month
Cnidarians	Cnidaria	39	8	7 x Isanemonia australis
Bryozoans	Bryozoa	4	3	2 x Mucropetraliella sp.
Sponges	Porifera	35	6	3 x Euryspongia sp.
Flatworms	Platyhelminthes	7	4	1 xFletchamia sp.
Ribbon Worms	Nemertea	5	1	4 x Baseodiscus delineatus
Hemichordates	Hemichordata	0	0	No observations this month
Peanut Worms	Sipuncula	0	0	No observations this month
Crustacean	Crustacea	87	27	7 x Halicarcinus ovatus (Three-pronged Spider Crab)
Sea Squirts	Tunicata	89	17	6 x Botryllus schlosseri (Golden Star Tunicate)
Clitellates	Clitellata	2	2	1 x Lumbricus terrestris (Common Earthworm)
Polychaete Worms	Polychaeta	29	7	4 x Megasyllis inflata
Springtails	Entognatha	2	1	1 x Hypogastrura sp.
Sea Spiders	Pycnogonida	0	0	No observations this month
Centipedes	Chilopoda	12	4	4 x Cormocephalus aurantiipes (Orange-footed Centipede)
Millipedes	Diplopoda	60	3	52 x Ommatoiulus moreleti (Portuguese Millipede)
Spiders, Scorpions & Mites	Arachnida	301	66	19 x Latrodectus hasselti (Redback Spider)
Plants
Red Algae	Rhodophyta	20	8	2 x Asparagopsis taxiformis
Green Algae	Chlorophyta	15	9	2 x Codium spongiosum
Mosses	Bryophyta	91	14	12 x Hypnum cupressiforme (Cypress-leaved Plait-Moss)
Liverworts	Marchantiophyta	14	2	7 x Lunularia cruciata (Crescent-cup Liverwort)
Hornworts	Anthocerotophyta	0	0	No observations this month
Flowering Plants: Dicots	Magnoliopsida	3,607	501	117 x Eucalyptus fasciculosa (Pink Gum)
Flowering Plants: Monocots	Liliopsida	801	135	57 x Xanthorrhoea semiplana (Grass-tree)
Conifers	Pinopsida	68	13	28 x Callitris gracilis (Slender Cypress-Pine)
Ferns	Polypodiopsida	76	11	40 x Pteridium esculentum (Austral Bracken)
Other Kingdoms
Bacteria	Bacteria	1	1	1 x Cyanobacteria sp.
Protozoans	Protozoa	0	0	No observations this month
Kelp & Diatoms	Chromista	30	8	6 x Ecklonia radiata (Common Kelp)
Fungi	Fungi	356	70	12 x Coprinus comatus (Shaggy Mane)

(Data used for this post taken on the 4th of May. It excludes any observations from April that were uploaded after this date)

Taxonomy Australia has a mission: "To discover and document all remaining Australian species of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms ... in a generation."

At the current rate, a full catalogue (sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist's mind) is expected to take 420 years! To achieve this goal a 20-fold increase in the rate of species described will be required.

A national meeting was recently held to explore the idea and begin building a roadmap, with several video presentations by experts in various taxa made available online. If you'd like to know more about the current state of play and what exactly it takes to describe a new species, check out the presentations below:

Introduction to the Mission (Kevin Thiele)

How will we discover and document the remaining hyperdiverse insects? (Erinn Fagan-Jeffries)

How on earth will we discover and document all of the fungi of Australia? (Tom May)

How to describe the remaining Australian plants? (Katharina Nargar)

The status of marine invertebrate taxonomy (Zoe Richards)

How will we discover and document Australia's remaining arachnids and myriapods? (Mark Harvey)

How will we discover and document the remaining non-hyperdiverse invertebrates? (Bryan Lessard)

So how are we going in 2020? Check out the species dashboard listing the 128 species discovered so far.

Late last night the 100,000th verifiable observation was uploaded for South Australia!

Quick Stats:

• 1,936 observers have uploaded records of 5,870 species across the state
• 68.3% of all verifiable observations are Research Grade
• 1,670 observations of 108 Threatened species
• 6,700 observations of 418 Introduced species
• Observations break down: 34.3% Vertebrates, 31.4% Plants, 16.6% Insects, 13.8% Other Animals, 2.6% Fungi, 0.8% Chromista

Congratulations to all who have contributed such amazing observations. The first 100k took quite a while, with the first observation from SA in mid-2011, reaching only 100 by mid-2013 and 1,500 by mid-2016. In fact, 95% of all observation in SA have been uploaded since the beginning of 2018. We are currently adding a new observation approximately every 7 minutes!

The number of local contributors is now growing rapidly. At the current rate of growth we are likely to reach 200,000 observations in less than 12 months. So keep those observations coming. 5,870 species represents only a small fraction of the biodiversity of our state. There's still so much to discover.

The change in temperature and recent rains have encouraged many Fungi species to begin fruiting, with 619 observations being uploaded so far this month.

Fungi is a hyper-diverse group, with an estimated 275,000 species in Australia with only around 15,000 species formally named. Of those, only the macrofungi (5,000 described) and lichens (4,000 described) are potentially of suitable size to be photographed in the field.

With many species yet to be described, and those that are described being frequently done so with characteristics and traits not visible in field photographs (i.e. spore features), obtaining an accurate species level ID from a few photographs can be difficult for many species. The exception being those that demonstrate distinct features not known to be present in other species. Nevertheless a Genus or Family level ID can still be of significant value.

Recommended Photos

In very general terms, you'll want to record as many features as possible, which is not often achievable with a single photo.

For fruiting bodies in the form of a mushroom (stem/stipe and cap/pileus), you'll want to photograph the cap at a slight angle from above, from the side to show the edge of the cap and stem, and the cap underside to show the gills/pores. The same photo set, above/side/underside, is also suitable for Bracket Fungi.

Each angle will provide additional visual characteristics that will help to narrow down the ID. Here is an example of an Amanita xanthocephala, a native species in the same Genus as the introduced Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria), showing photos taken from several angles.

Additional photos that may help include a wider angle photo showing the substrate (wood/soil) and surrounding vegetation/environment, and a photo with a scale.

Photographing the underside can be difficult, and destroying the fruiting body just for a photo is certainly not recommended. The easiest method is to bring along a small mirror that can be placed underneath, and the reflection photographed. Any small mirror is suitable. A small makeup mirror works well, or one can be purchased from the FungiMap shop.

Uploading to FungiMap

FungiMap is a not for profit, citizen-science organisation dedicated to furthering the conservation and knowledge of Australian fungi. Fungi observations uploaded to iNat can also be uploaded to the long running FungiMap project. This Traditional Project requires that observations be added manually and that a few additional Observation Fields be included, i.e. Fungus Habitat & Fungus Substrate.

Further Fungi Info

If you are new to Fungi, this Glossary of Terms might come in handy when discussing features.

For further info on macroscopic features of Fungi check out THIS detailed page by the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Looking for the bioluminescent Ghost Fungus? While the ForestrySA 'Ghost Mushroom Lane' is closed this year, this species, Omphalotus nidiformis, also grows throughout the Adelaide Hills and can be found during May/June. Keep an eye out for local records uploaded to iNat. If the location is suitable and the growth stage just right, it might be worth stepping out into the cold one night to check it out. ForestrySA also has a guide to photographing the Ghost Fungus. Suggested exposure time is from 20 seconds to several minutes depending on the intensity of the bioluminescence.

And while you are searching for Fungi, don't forget to record the Invertebrates feeding on the Fungi (i.e. Springtails), the Bryophytes (Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts), the Orchids and the Sundews.