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dragon_fruit35 wrote:

Raven wrote:

Skink wrote: It's mostly similar-looking generic (yeah, I went there) grasses, maybe the beetles. I don't have my comparison documents on hand to see what else, but there were probably some larval stages of insects that got lumped together, at least for quick on-the-spot comparison.

This is going by the Nationals list:
- the two pine shoot beetles
- the two longhorned beetles
- the two mussels
- giant vs common reed
- the milfoils

On the Pennsylvania list:
- the honeysuckles.......
- the knotweeds

If you are making an ID guide, make it like a dichotomous key, have all the warm-colored flowers on one page, all the pointy leaves on another page, etc.

Also
-whitetop, hairy whitetop, giant hogweed
-some of the thistles look pretty similar

What two pine shoot beetles? As far as I know there is only the common pine shoot beetle (national list). Are you talking about the spruce bark beetle by any chance?

I think the two pine shoot beetles are the Common Pine Shoot Beetle and the European Spruce Bark Beetle. How do you tell the difference between the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and the Citrus Long-Horned Beetle?

gryphaea1635 wrote:Is there a website where I can find up-to-date distribution maps? A lot of maps I've found online have conflicted with each other.

Sorry I replied two years late, at least this will help others. The USDA provides an accurate map for the distribution of Invasive Species.

RareKyurem wrote:Hi guys! I'm having trouble identifying species because so many of them look alike. I'm making a document on which species look like. Which species do you guys most generally mix up?

The water plants are my only weakness.

JasperKota wrote:Last year at states I screwed up hydrilla and brazilian waterweed, realized 10 minutes before the event that my ID pics for the two species looked like the same, but if I had made better notes that wouldn't have happened.

Press this link it'll help: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q ... 4309728648[/url]

RareKyurem wrote:

dragon_fruit35 wrote:

Raven wrote:
This is going by the Nationals list:
- the two pine shoot beetles
- the two longhorned beetles
- the two mussels
- giant vs common reed
- the milfoils

On the Pennsylvania list:
- the honeysuckles.......
- the knotweeds

If you are making an ID guide, make it like a dichotomous key, have all the warm-colored flowers on one page, all the pointy leaves on another page, etc.

Also
-whitetop, hairy whitetop, giant hogweed
-some of the thistles look pretty similar

What two pine shoot beetles? As far as I know there is only the common pine shoot beetle (national list). Are you talking about the spruce bark beetle by any chance?

I think the two pine shoot beetles are the Common Pine Shoot Beetle and the European Spruce Bark Beetle. How do you tell the difference between the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and the Citrus Long-Horned Beetle?

CLB has a rough/bumpy elytra(pretty much a shoulder for wings), while ALB has a smooth elytra. If they just give you a blurry google images pic with an angle where you can't tell, good luck. If that's the case you may have to rely on having a lot of pictures of each in your binder in hopes that they match the picture you're given. A good ES will know these differences and be able to provide a good picture, but that won't always happen.

Thanks guys!

Hi guys! I was looking at a test on Invasives and a slide showed up. I didn't know what it was and it turned out to be a sea lamprey. https://scioly.org/wiki/images/1/1e/Och ... _key_3.pdf

The picture is on slide 23. What part of the Sea Lamprey is that thing?

RareKyurem wrote:Hi guys! I was looking at a test on Invasives and a slide showed up. I didn't know what it was and it turned out to be a sea lamprey. https://scioly.org/wiki/images/1/1e/Och ... _key_3.pdf

The picture is on slide 23. What part of the Sea Lamprey is that thing?

It's the skeleton of the sea lamprey.

JasperKota wrote:

RareKyurem wrote:Hi guys! I was looking at a test on Invasives and a slide showed up. I didn't know what it was and it turned out to be a sea lamprey. https://scioly.org/wiki/images/1/1e/Och ... _key_3.pdf

The picture is on slide 23. What part of the Sea Lamprey is that thing?

It's the skeleton of the sea lamprey.

This was the only thing that messed me up.

Shoutout to Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology. They don't have nearly all of the animal species, but they have a few invertebrates and a few aquatic animals, and the ones that they do have are extremely detailed and very helpful, especially as tests dive into more detailed questions. Just another useful source for this event.