iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I only just remembered to look for the Agapanthus Gall-midge 𝐸𝑛𝑖𝑔𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑖 while on the famously 𝐴𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠-filled islands of Scilly, and it took me all of two minutes to find larvae of this species developing in buds.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Dream morning today on St Mary's, Scilly when I opened the moth trap to find my first Death's-head Hawkmoth 𝐴𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠!

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Bog Asphodel 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑚 is only found in one location in Woking, but I still found that these plants hosted sizeable populations of two saprobes: 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑖 and 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑖.

Velvety, olive-coloured colonies of Cladosporium ossifragi on leaves of Bog Asphodel.

Black pycnidia of Microdiplodia narthecii on a dead Bog Asphodel peduncle. This species was only found on the older plants.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A search for 𝐸𝑟𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑖 led me to its British stronghold in Oxfordshire, where I soon found it at Hartslock NR. This high-quality chalk grassland was also the site of my 4,000th species in the British Isles, a day shy of five months after my 3,000th and a couple of days before my 17th birthday.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

𝑇𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑎 is practically unknown as a host for powdery mildew in the British Isles, so you can imagine my surprise when I found not one but two infected trees in an area of Woking yesterday. The infections are very sparse, causing discolouration and only on younger leaves.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

𝐸𝑟𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑎, specific to 𝐿𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑎, is rare in the UK but there is a population doing well at RHS Wisley which has been known from here in previous years. My first time seeing this stunning powdery mildew species!

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Multiple species of Erysiphaceae occur on 𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟, and are best separated microscopically. Shown here are 𝐸𝑟𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑖 on 𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑎𝑠 (which forms single conidia) and 𝐺𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖 on 𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑢𝑚 (which forms catenate conidia).

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