No filters, just bees. Happy #WorldBeeDay! 📷️ on iNaturalist: 1. Silver-tailed Petalcutter (Megachile montivaga), seen by anudibranchmom in the United States 2. Slender-scaped Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa tenuiscapa), seen by odonut in India 3. Eufriesea simillima, seen by isaacmiramontes in Mexico

Biodiversity isn't something you have to travel far to find! Here's a glimpse at what people have been noticing right where they are over the past weekend — all observations added to the International Day for Biodiversity 2026 project on iNaturalist ... 🧵⤵️

Biodiversity is everywhere — including near you! May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity, and from May 15–31 we're inviting you to celebrate by paying closer attention to your nearby nature. 🧵⤵️

Two years ago, this Red-headed Spider Ant dragged a small spider across the sand and someone captured a photo. The resulting iNaturalist observation was categorized under "Order Araneae" for a long time — until identifier djringer recognized it as Paraplectanoides crassipes, a rare orbweaver!

The #CityNatureChallenge results are in! Across 61 countries, over 106 THOUSAND people worked together to document their nearby nature — resulting in over 3 million new, important data points for biodiversity science and observation.

Amamos a los carpinchos y a @inaturalist.bsky.social 💚 @flograttarola.bsky.social youtube.com/shorts/uwF7B...

New paper by NYU Biology undergrad (now PhD student at U. Chicago) Shira Linsk! Shira combined on-the-ground sampling with @inaturalist.bsky.social data to better understand how moths are impacted by urbanization doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Many observations on iNaturalist are identified to species, genus, or family. This one stops at Order Hexamerocerata — a broader category that contains entire families, genera, and species within it. There are only 15 observations of this entire order on iNaturalist ... this is one of them!

Look a little closer and you'll see not one but TWO mollusks in this photo — the striking black and white chiton in the center, and a sneaky sea slug known as Diguet's Pleurobranchus (Pleurobranchus digueti) off to the upper left!

Seek users, ICYMI: check out the new camera controls and smarter location settings! To get the best identification suggestions, turn location on when identifying wild organisms and off for garden plants, pets, or captive species. Happy observing!

Psst — just two more days to upload your #CityNatureChallenge photos and help identify what you saw! Head to the iNaturalist app or inaturalist.org and upload any wildlife photos you snapped between April 24–27. The identification period closes May 10 — then stay tuned for final results on May 13!

New to iNaturalist (or just want a guided intro)? Join us for a free webinar on May 15 — the iNaturalist team will show you how to explore nature near you and turn your photos into real scientific data! ➡️ May 15, 9am Pacific Time 🔗: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Oh nothing, just a garden springtail on a newt (!!!) here to brighten your day a little.

Always fun to see species I named turn up on @inaturalist.bsky.social, and even more so when people ID them without my help! Phytomyza nemophilae was originally described from specimens @cosmopterix.bsky.social reared from Nemophila, and has since been reared... www.inaturalist.org/observations...

When you upload an observation on iNaturalist, you'll more often than not get an identification (and sometimes a comment) from an identifier! We've had the privilege of spotlighting a few of these amazing folks over the years on our blog. Meet some of the people behind the IDs: buff.ly/BgQkAqR

To protect nature, we first need to get to know it ... and that's where identifying comes in. Here's what you need to know. 🧵⤵️

A moth — Dirphia monticola — photographed in the high-altitude tundra of Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, southern Brazil. This endangered species had never been recorded alive on iNaturalist before this observation!

It’s been a whirlwind weekend of community science, but the fun’s not over just yet! Now that the #CityNatureChallenge observation period has ended, it’s time to sit back, relax, and upload all your photos of wildlife from the last few days on the iNaturalist app.

Grab a friend and head outside because there’s just 🚨ONE MORE DAY LEFT🚨 to make observations for the 2026 City Nature Challenge! After today, you can still *upload* your photos onto @inaturalist.bsky.social—but they need to be *photographed* between April 24–27 to count as part of the challenge.

It’s not too late to join the world’s largest annual community science event! Three easy steps: get outside, photograph wild nature, and share it on the free @inaturalist.bsky.social app. 👀🤳

Right now, thousands of people all around the world are getting outside and documenting their local nature to help science and conservation. Here are just a few highlights from the first 24 hours of the 11th annual City Nature Challenge. ✨

Hello, 11th #CityNatureChallenge! The world’s largest annual community science event has started in the earliest time zones. To celebrate ... what better than a compilation of some spectacular arthropods from those areas?

🌷🐝🌳IT’S CITY NATURE CHALLENGE TIME! 🐿️🪺🐚

A sawfly — species Pseudoperga lewisii — and its many, many larvae. There are only about 50 iNaturalist observations of this species so far!

"Common" doesn't mean unimportant! When you share your nature photos on iNaturalist, you're contributing to science & conservation ... plus, when you stop to look, you might learn something new about a species you thought you knew. Also, ducks are great. Pls never stop sharing your duck photos. 🦆💚

This endangered airplant's scientific name is Tillandsia crocata, and there are currently only 12 records of it on iNaturalist! Like other airplants, they don't need soil to get their water and nutrients ... meaning they can grow in spectacular places like this rocky outcropping.

Nature is everywhere, even in the busiest cities. From April 24–27, over 100k people around the world will step outside & photograph the wild nature around them for the #CityNatureChallenge — the largest annual community science event. 🧵⤵️

Very special hermit crab for your feed. This is potentially only the second-ever iNaturalist observation of the species Dardanus insignis!

Free webinar 4/22: Learn how to explore nature near you, turn your photos into real scientific data, and take part in the upcoming City Nature Challenge! "Introduction to iNaturalist: Celebrate Earth Day Every Day" April 22, 9am PT Sign up: tr.ee/zuuP5Ecm4I

Barred Owl (Strix varia) vs. snack. Winner: all of us (we get to witness these photos).

Behold Arachnocampa luminosa, aka the New Zealand glowworm. The larval forms use their blue-green bioluminescence to lure prey into silk snares (meanwhile, the adults take the form of tiny gnats).

A beautiful Bicoloured Stream Snake (sssssspecies Opisthotropis lateralis) for your feed!

👁️ 👁️ 👁️ 👁️ (Ft. Maria Elena's Glass Frog, scientific name Chimerella mariaelenae.)

Heads up: iNaturalist will be offline for 6 hours beginning Wednesday, April 8 at 9pm Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7). More details: buff.ly/rqyMUEE

Beautiful moth — a Scribbled Sallow (Sympistis perscripta) — with a casual stowaway antlion larvae. You never know what you might find out there!

The closer you look, the bigger the world gets. Case in point: this incredibly small and beautiful fungus (potentially the species Capitotricha rubi). Click through for the zoomed-out version!

Sometimes you spot an insect that only has about 20 iNaturalist observations just ... hanging out on a sidewalk. Say hello to Paramantis natalensis! 📷 nishthi on iNaturalist 📍 South Africa 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay

There are currently only nine iNaturalist observations of this amazing snail, Antidrymaeus stramineus! Here's the most recent one. 📷 floydh on iNaturalist 📍 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay

18 years, 15,782 species, and a world full of people who love nature! Thank you to the 3,382 observers and 5,323 identifiers who made iNaturalist's 18th birthday special by sharing your photos of local species last weekend. A few more highlights ... 🧵⤵️

Tiny but one of a kind — scalepod (Idahoa scapigera) is the sole species in its genus, standing barely 10 cm tall. Easy to walk right past, hard to forget once you spot it. 📷 grant-bowler on iNaturalist 📍 Canada 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay

Last day of the iNat birthday celebration! 🎉 Join the project & drop off your "party gift" observation today: tr.ee/XzVUC8Z0C2 📷️ on iNaturalist: 1. Elegant Grasshopper by gerhardlemmer 2. Five-striped Flatworm by paulaboer 3. Shaheen Falcon by sunnyjosef 4. Acusta rhodostoma by xieminnicki

My "CBS Sunday Morning" cover story: iNaturalist, the app that identifies any critter, plant, or bug—and adds your sightings to the global scientific database, so researchers know what's happening. And Martha Stewart invited us to raid her property for sightings! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJGH...

What does biodiversity look like in your own backyard? That's the question we explored when our team headed to visit the ever-iconic Martha Stewart to help document the wildlife living alongside her gardens. Catch the full segment on CBS Sunday Morning: tr.ee/hTkHNx0zxJ

🥳 The party is happening! iNaturalist turns 18 this weekend. Join the Birthday Project, head outside March 20–23, and make an observation of a local species you love: tr.ee/XzVUC8Z0C2

Not every observation goes as planned — and sometimes that's the best part. While an iNat community member was photographing this adorable little frog, a Filigreed Moth (Chimoptesis pennsylvaniana) crawled right onto its head. Aww.

A possum species known only from 6,000-year-old fossils was just confirmed alive in New Guinea — thanks in part to photos shared by community scientists on iNaturalist!

A full moon makes for a dramatic backdrop, but snowy owls aren't bound to the night — unlike most owls, they're often active during the day, especially in summer. They're also the only owl species with mainly white plumage, making them one of the most unmistakable birds in the world. 🌕🦉

El 20 de marzo de 2008 se subió la primera observación a @inaturalist.bsky.social. Desde entonces, millones de personas como vos han ayudado a construir uno de los conjuntos de datos más increíbles de observaciones de la naturaleza en el mundo 💚🌎

You’re invited to iNaturalist’s 18th Birthday Party! 🎂🎉 Since March 20, 2008, millions of people have helped build an incredible global biodiversity dataset. From March 20–23, celebrate with us by making observations of your favorite species! 💓 Join the birthday project → tr.ee/XzVUC8Z0C2