P-SL controversies

There's a recent post here - https://uigboy.blogspot.com/ which is interesting, somewhat controversial, and I have pondered the same thing. I commented rather long-windedly! I have thought, but not previously dared to voice a similar opinion.

There are quite a few species which quite a few P-SL folk list but which are the very devil to identify properly. These include: various moths but particularly Common and Lesser Common Rustic Mesapamea secalis and M. didyma which can only be separated by dissection. Yponomeuta moths are also very tricky, and Y. padella, malinellus and cagnella, can only be identified from larvae found on their identified food plant or adults reared from larvae found on the identified food plant, these cannot be identified any other way (not sure about genetic analysis) (and some references indicate that this may not be 100% reliable). So don't go trying to ID the ones in your light trap to species ;-) 

Mesapamea didyma, demonstrating how the external appearance of the adult is no guide to which of the two species this is.

Spiders, these are not easy! Even though I have Roberts. There is now a very good website, - https://araneae.nmbe.ch/ I have 40 spiders and other assorted archnids on my list. I briefly worked on opiliones professionally, a long time ago. Fairly recently a spider expert I spoke to suggested that there are only around 30 spider species that can be reliably IDed in the field. (I still have some qualms about my Pirata piraticus tick...). 

There are also all sorts of other things, including stuff you'll see a lot, that are next to impossible unless you are an expert. Eyebrights Euphrasia spp - there is a whole book on these, and everything is complicated by hybrids as well, my advice; don't even think about identifying them! In Orkney, there are some endemic species of plants, but they are not on my list because I have no idea how to determine them. And then we come to the Hieracium species, brambles and dandelions.... Hundreds of micro-species, hybrids and various other impossible-to-ID things. 

The trick is to know what is possible and what is not. And that is very much a personal judgement. What is important is to be able to make that judgement. Personally I prefer things with legs and wings, but I'm quite enjoying botanical excursions this year.

And then there is the being shown something, but not actually being able to ID it. I don't tick these which includes various mosses in particular.

However, to be honest, I have 109 fungal species on my list and 54 lichens. I have limited understanding of these taxa and the difficulties of getting them to species, despite previously working in a lab' where we did identify some fungi (and bacteria). The ones on my list were usually identified by using AI followed up by using the quite a few books that I have and consulting online resources. Until now I've not examined spores to confirm these IDs, but I do now have a quite decent compound microscope (unearthed in a local 2nd hand shop - thank you Remake). This coming autumn and winter I will be chasing some of these up to check them further. For the moment the IDs stand. (Although it is worth noting that the whole world of fungi is in flux and I've come across quite a bit of different opinion about what is an identifiable species and what are regarded as species aggregates or groups.)

Triphragmium ulmariae - confident about this one.

The very, very good thing about P-SL is that it positively encourages citizen science and the recording of our wildlife. Whether you use iRecord (recommended) iNaturalist (ok), Birdtrack (very good for birds) or any of the various other apps and sites, recording things is good. Where there is accurate verification of records it is even better. 

Personally, I especially like recording particular sites, many of my recent P-SL listed species come from either my garden or our local community woodland where I am working on developing as comprehensive a species list as possible. This is my primary motivation, although I do enjoy the wee jousts and struggles in the lower echelons of the P-SL listing community. As a birder I was very much interested in my patch-birding and certainly in the last 20 years or so had very little interest in chasing rarities.

One of the main drivers of the Pan-Species Listing movement is Graeme Lyons. Graeme is a professional ecologist and has published an interesting book about P-SL  

I have huge admiration for anyone who has the energy and application to get any book written, let alone published. This is a motivational and useful book. My grouse (but which one?) with Graeme is his anti-AI stance which IMHO is a bit elitist. Yes, AI does use a lot of data (= energy), so is anti-environmental in that sense. However, for those of us with too much required memory for our RAM capacity it makes P-SL possible and allows us access to a world we would otherwise find pretty much impenetrable, or take up more time than we have available. Used thoughtfully, AI improves our ID accuracy and provides a useful checking tool. Additionally, as with my new found interest in vane trapping, even with an Order like Coleoptera, which I have been interested in for much of my life, there are so many families that knowing where to start can be a challenge; the key to Family is not the easiest. Obsidentify is usually pretty reliable in getting a particular animal to Family and thus providing a reliable starting point for work with the microscope and key (Mike Hackston's online keys are very good if you don't have the four volumes of Duff). There is an interesting piece on AI and identifying insects here - https://www.royensoc.co.uk/antenna-50-1-ai-powered-species-identification/

Glischrochilus quadripunctatus - fished alive out of a vane trap yesterday.

The above is nationally a quite rare beastie - https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000024510 This one is my second of late which is an encouraging indicator on the health of our woodland. And I would probably not have started vane trapping but for the motivation of P-SL.

Each to their own is my view, but whilst we might all try to push the boundaries of what is possible in the determination of particular specimens to species on occasion, being aware of ones own limitations helps.  It is fine to admit defeat, I do frequently. Sometimes after investing a couple of hours in an ID I realise the outcome is not going to be reliable. A recent tussle with Fannia sp being a case in point and a particular Tipula sp lingers in the mind!

However, sometimes the hours pay off with an ID I do have real confidence in, and all of this is a learning experience. What will the next trap emptying bring? New species or a now confident identification in moments of something that a few weeks ago took six hours (well it was an Epuraea....). 

 

Parabeckerias obtusinervis - quite a challenge, but using Mike Hackston's key to Pipunculidae backed up with the freely available, if ancient RES key (Coe R.L. 1966) I got there eventually.