iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Nice one! It's not often you get to compare genera side-by-side from the same sample! :)

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The first image also shows Phyllactinia betulae in the centre, with the larger chasmothecia :)

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It's not been proven from Mycelis I don't think but given that the type host is Lactuca and it's quite polyphagous I'd be surprised if it was something else (not least G. cichoracearum!)

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

For now, the most up-to-date source for powdery mildews is just the primary literature itself really, which is unfortunately often paywalled. G. bolayi was described in 2019 so I don't know why the authors of the Welsh guide didn't include it.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Golovinomyces cichoracearum (s.str.) is only on Scorzonera and Tragopogon, this one is probably Golovinomyces bolayi.

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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 · 14/08/2026

And now one I've been hoping for all week, Striped Hawkmoth 𝐻𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎! Ni Moth 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑎 𝑛𝑖 was also a highlight.

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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 · 10/06/2026

Maybe consider 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢 for the leech although I've not had much experience pond dipping and it's not one I've seen (I'm sure someone else here will be able to confirm!)

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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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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I saw my first back in February from beating dock, rather randomly, but I noticed them in their dozens on some hollyhocks today too.

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Alex Press @alexoutside.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Nice one, I agree it's unusually uncommon given how frequent its host is in most urban and suburban areas.

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