iNaturalist Highlight: 26,000th observation (Leptoglossus oppositus) -- a leaf-footed taxonomic puzzle!

On 28 June 2026 (a while ago now, and the delay in reporting is explained below), I uploaded my 26,000th iNaturalist observation, a Leptoglossus oppositus, a leaf-footed bug, in Colonial Village, Arlington, Virginia. As of this date, I've had 25 observations of the species.

I thought that documenting this species would be easy, since it's quite common, however, once I started digging in, it turned into quite a taxonomic rabbit hole that is not quite fully resolved (from a bibliographic citation trail) in my mind.

First issue, GBIF, via the Catalogue of Life, lists the citation for the species as:

Say, T. (1832) In New species of North American insects found by Joseph Barabino, chiefly in Louisiana. New Harmony, Indiana. 1–16 pp. [1831]

I wasn't able to find a copy of this item on BHL, but HathiTrust did have a copy (see here). I went through this sixteen pages way too many times and found no mention of Leptoglossus oppositus (or Anisoscelis oppositus as first named by Say).

Finally, I went to the collected works of Say (on BHL):

Say,  Thomas, & LeConte,  John Lawrence. (1891). The complete writings of Thomas Say on the entomology of North America (Vol. 1, p. 327). A. E. Foote. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24631474

And went page by page through the 1830-1832 publications. As I expected, I didn't find anything in New species of North American insects found by Joseph Barabino, chiefly in Louisiana. But, I did find A. oppositus described in:

Say, Thomas. 1831 December. Descriptions of new species of HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA of North America. New Harmony, Indiana. (BHL page link -- see page image below).

So, it looks like GBIF and the Catalogue of Life need to do a bit of cleanup on their citations!

From Wikipedia: Leptoglossus oppositus a species of leaf-footed bug (family Coreidae) found in North America. It resembles Leptoglossus fulvicornis but can be distinguished by the deeper scallops in the leaf-like feature of the hind tibia and the addition of three white spots across the hemelytra. This species is widely dispersed from New York to Florida and as far west as Iowa and Minnesota, as well as the southwest regions of the United States into Mexico.

HISTORIC DOCUMENTATION

Leptoglossus oppositus was first described by Thomas Say in 1831 (December) (as Anisoscelis oppositus):

3. A. oppositus. — Reddish-brown; hemelytra with a white point in the middle of the corium; antennae rufous; head trilineated; posterior tibiae dilated and sinuated. 

Inhabits Indiana.

This is very closely allied to albicinctus nob., but is uniform in its differential characters. It may be known by the small white point of the hemelytra.

Say, Thomas. 1831 December. Descriptions of new species of HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA of North America. New Harmony, Indiana. Reprinted in The complete writings of Thomas Say on the entomology of North America (Vol. 1, p. 327). A. E. Foote. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24631474.

In the News: "Finding Flora and Fauna" in American Libraries (19 June 2019)

BHL was featured in The Bookend feature of American Libraries in the 3 June 2019 issue. It took a couple of photo shoots to get the picture. Special thanks to (then) Smithsonian Libraries rare book librarian, Allie Alvis (aka Bookhistoria) for helping set up the photoshoot in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History at the Smithsonian.

Find the full issue here: "Bookend: Finding Flora and Fauna" by George M. Eberhart. American Libraries | June 3, 2019.

iNaturalist Observations: In and Around the Netherlands (30 May - 7 June 2026)

Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

This trip to the Netherlands was quite productive from an observation standpoint. I was able to visit Leiden (great observations in the Hortus Botanicus), Delft (again, the visit to the TU Delft Hortus Botanicus was great), Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Scheveningen (mollusks!).

Total: 30 May - 7 June (as of 7 June 2026)

• Observations: 242

• Species: 110

• Netherlands: My Observations (All Time)

Notables

• Top Species: Eurasian Coot (19)

• Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

• Zebra Jumping Spider (Salticus scenicus)

• Hollyhock Weevil

• Azure Damselfly

iNaturalist Observations: In and Around Helsinki (26-30 May 2026)

Mordellochroa abdominalis

Total: 25-30 May 2026 (as of 7 June 2026)

• Observations: 158

• Species: 72

• Finland: All My Observations (All Time)

Here are my iNaturalist observations on a trip to the Helsinki area, 26-30 May 2026.

Notables

• Top Species: Barnacle Goose (15 observations)

• Mordellochroa abdominalis

• Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

• Fourteen-spotted Lady Beetle (Propylea quatuordecimpunctata)

• Subgenus Nabis

New to the Merlin Life List

1. Willo Warbler

2. Barnacle Goose

3. Eurasian Oystercatcher

4. Red Crossbill

5. Common Eider

iNaturalist Highlight: 25,000th observation (Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug)

On 21 May 2026, I uploaded my 25,000th iNaturalist observation, a nymph of the Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug spotted in Hillside Park, Arlington, Virginia. 

As of this date, I've had 11 observations of the species (with some additional observations from the genus Podisus). A few days before this observation, I had another observation of a P. maculiventris attacking a much larger Nearctic Carpenter Ant (Camponotus nearcticus)

"Podisus maculiventris, the spined soldier bug, is a medium-sized predatory shield bug common in North America. It has prominent spines on each "shoulder" and preys on a wide variety of arthropods, particularly the larval forms of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. As a generalist predator of many agricultural pests, P. maculiventris is generally considered a beneficial insect in gardens and crop fields." -- Wikipedia

P. maculiventris was first described by Thomas Say in 1831:

P. maculiventris, Hemelytra with a line at tip ; venter with five series of black points.

Inhab. U. S.

Body yellowish or pale brownish, with dense, rather large punctures : thorax acutely angulated each side behind the middle ; edge granulated before the middle : hemelytra having an abbreviated fuscous line at tip of the membranous portion : antennae, first joint short ; 2d longer than the third : tergum on the lateral margin with a blackish dot on each incisure : beneath yellowish : feet immaculate ; thighs sometimes having numerous minute blackish points ; anterior tibiae with an obvious spine over the slight emargination : venter with five obvious series of small black dots.

Say, Thomas. 1831 March. Descriptions of new species of North American insects, found in Louisiana by Joseph Barabino. New Harmony, Indiana. [page image from the HathiTrust].

A Visit to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) in April 2026

While on a work trip to Paris, I had some time and after strolling along the Seine, thought I would take a wander through the Jardin des Plantes and make a visit to the one of the world's greatest natural history museums, none other than the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN).

I was last at the MNHN in 2023 for that year's BHL Annual Meeting. That visit was bittersweet as it was the first BHL meeting without Constance Rinaldo. We had lost her the previous year (in October 2022). At the Paris meeting, however, we were able to celebrate her life and accomplishments along with members of her family.

So, this visit was a bit different (and as a side note, the 2026 BHL Annual meeting was taking place this very same week, but, as in 2016, in London at the Natural History Museum  and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. But I digress. 

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

On this visit (27 April 2026), I went to hit a few highlights -- chief among them the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution (above). The dodo exhibit was a bit disappointing. Seems the "disparues" animal exhibit was being redone, so there was no grand dodo on display this time.

I wandered around a bit more (lots of stairs, but in a nice open plan). Headed out and went across the way to pay respects at the House of Buffon, that would be Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The building is now the offices of the scientific publishing wing of the MNHN (back in 2018, at my first visit to the MNHN we had some meetings with Laurence Bénichou (Head of Publishing and a longtime and strong supporter of BHL). 

Time to move on. Decided to look for lunch, but can't decide where, almost go to the cafe at the Grande Mosquée de Paris but realize I can't get a beer there so move on. None of the lunch spots are hitting what I’m looking for. Finally, decide to go to Place de la Contrescarpe which seems packed with eateries. I get there and there are throngs of people in cafes. I choose, the Cafe La Contrescarpe, almost get mussels, but choose steak and frites which includes 3 deviled eggs and a salad. Very good. I add a beer, but just one! Food and service are very good. My table overlooks the Place, so good people watching options.

Celebration: Official Launch of the BHL Portal, 9 May 2007

May 2007 was an important time for BHL. All the work done by Tom Garnett to integrate BHL into the funding streams for the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) was coming together. 9 May was selected as the official launch date for EOL and the event would take place in Washington, DC.

The day started with a press conference held at the National Press Club. After that, participants regrouped back at the Smithsonian's Natural History museum to (well, you know), do more work. A bunch of us hung out in the digitization space (where the Smithsonian's Scribe machine had been delivered a few days earlier, on 5 May 2007). We'd decorated the room with some print on demand books from the Internet Archive and a Mold-a-Rama dinosaur from The Field Museum.

Cathy Norton and Brewster Kahle between events at the Smithsonian's Scribe digitization room

National Academies of Sciences