Three iNaturalist-flagged invertebrates recorded in late July

July 29, 2026

(Sphaerophoria sulphuripes) are not common sightings these days, but one turned up nectaring on low-growing composites on July 28 — late July is when adults are most active and visible. These hover flies are genuine pollinators of open-ground wildflowers, and their presence signals something ecologically valuable: unimproved meadow edges and grasslands that have been steadily lost across the lowlands to development and invasive plant encroachment. iNaturalist flags this species as threatened.

Two other invertebrates that iNaturalist flags as threatened appeared within the same month: a (Evergestis pallidata) and a (Pyrausta californicalis). Three records in a midsummer window is not enough to claim anything definitive about population status, but it is an unusual cluster of iNaturalist-flagged sensitive invertebrates in a single month, and worth attention as the meadow edges they depend on continue to narrow.

Data from iNaturalist

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