iNaturalist User Identifies 400th Species in Backyard, Neighbors Suspect Witchcraft

Retired accountant and amateur naturalist Gwen Thorax has logged her 400th unique arthropod species on iNaturalist within the confines of her 50-by-80-foot suburban backyard, a biodiversity density that has bewildered ecologists and prompted her homeowners association to schedule an emergency meeting. 'Four hundred species in 4,000 square feet,' said Dr. Paul Elytra of the Xerces Society, reviewing the data. 'That's higher than some managed conservation areas. Either she has created an unintentional refugium of extraordinary quality or she's making them up, and I've checked — she's not making them up.' Thorax's yard, which from the street appears to be 'an unkempt mess' according to HOA president Brenda Lawson, is actually a meticulously layered habitat featuring native grasses, decomposing log piles, a seasonal vernal pool disguised as a drainage issue, and what Thorax calls her 'leaf litter library.' 'I stopped mowing in 2019,' Thorax said, flipping through her observation journal. 'That's when everything changed. The beetles came first, then the flies, then the parasitoid wasps. By 2022 I had rove beetles I couldn't identify without a microscope. By 2024, researchers were asking to set pitfall traps in my garden.' The HOA has issued three citations for 'unkempt landscaping,' each of which Thorax has contested with printed species lists and ecological impact assessments. 'She showed up to the hearing with a binder,' said Lawson. 'It had tabs.' Neighbors have expressed a range of reactions, from admiration to suspicion. 'There are bugs in that yard I've never seen in my life,' said next-door resident Dale Fescue. 'She's either a genius or she's summoning them.' Thorax's goal is 500 species by year's end. She has installed a blacklight trap on her porch, which she operates nightly to the consternation of literally everyone on her street.