I often come across observations that do not lend themselves to categories in the Annotation section. As an example : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37912277 This observation (not mine) is a cast off pupal skin. As such it is neither a pupa or an adult butterfly. It is neither alive, nor …

@tiwane I have noticed this too in other topics on annotations. In particular for me, the phenology graphs show pattern of date and state, but if the observation is for sign, then the date and state are not neccesarily matching. As an example, I could make an observation of an eggshell in a nest. T…

Well the graphs and maps on iNat seem to show seasonality and location of observations. This pattern obviously depends a lot on timing and location of human activity. While such graphs and maps might not perfectly reflect where and when an organism really lives, they might help people to learn where…

[image] tiwane: Might be best to add a “cannot be determined” option for other annotations, which I think has been discussed. That seems like a reasonable idea to me. I started a thread discussing a similar topic a few months back: Life stage annotations for “Recent Evidence” observations (e.…

I agree; if this were my observation I would mark it as pupa since evidence of a pupa is the most obvious. Others mark it as adult though since it also shows (presumably) that an adult emerged… I’m not sure if a “cannot be decided” is appropriate though because the observation is for the evidence of…

[image] upupa-epops: because the observation is for the evidence of the organism, not the organism itself. Based on this argument the tracks of an animal in sand would have to be annotated as “dead”, as the observed sand and the observed impressions are certainly not alive. ;). - Also the ev…

Thank you all. As I said, I do have a tendency to overthink things, and all of your suggestions have been very helpful. It’s gone some way to easing my mild distress!!

[image] mreith: Therefore “can not be determined” should be used in all observations that are on tracks or signs, like footprints, shed feathers, eggshells, shed skins and exuviae. I agree, but there are a large number of forum participants that are adamant on marking adult feathers as “adult…

In this particular case, you could annotate it as a pupa and also add the exuvia observation field .

[image] mreith: As for an additional option: “live organism present at time of observation” … this is exactly the same as: Alive or death “alive”… which means we already have it, and implementing it twice is redundant. But this terminology isn’t obvious to many observers, especially those not…

Mixed flocks must be annotated, the observation about 1 individual, and it has life stage.

Annotations that do not fit

General

upupa-epops February 9, 2020, 4:17am 26

That was suggested quite a few times in this thread, but I don’t think a feature request was ever made.

Topic		Replies	Views
Are annotations about the observation or the organism being observed? General	19	578	July 24, 2026
Life stage annotations for “Recent Evidence” observations (e.g. leafmines, galls, juvenile feathers) General	31	2076	November 17, 2019
A few questions about annotations General	29	2014	December 27, 2022
Let's Talk Annotations General	959	59762	July 25, 2026
Annotating animals as alive General	33	3650	January 30, 2020

Annotations that do not fit

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