Cannot Add New Species

Bug Reports
#1

Platform: Website

Browser: Microsoft Edge

Links: Curator Guide · iNaturalist

Description of problem: As per the Curator Guide, the order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids) follow the Orthoptera Species Files. To this day, many species on the database have not been added yet to iNat and I’ve taken the liberty from time to time to add these species. As a non-curator, I can only add the species by clicking “External Name Providers” box when I type in the name. Today, I did the same thing I always did but now all I get is “No Results” after clicking External Name Providers. So I’m not sure what is going on. Is this a bug? Am I’m not allowed to add taxa anymore? Is Orthoptera now a locked taxa and requires a curator?

#2

Have you tried synonyms from GBIF? Sometimes external databases lack some of them.

#4

Orthoptera Species Files is not one of the places that the External Name Provider looks for new names. If in the past you have successfully imported names that OSF has, it’s only because the External Name Provider found it someplace else (EOL/COL).
This is not a bug and you can still use the External Name Provider to add taxa. Orthoptera is not locked, but (as always) a curator is needed to add taxa when the External Name Provider can’t find them. Please flag the taxon above the one you want added and a curator can help.

2 Likes
#5

Most of what I’ve done in the past I originally got from SINA (Singing Insects of North America). I find it odd that ENP doesn’t look into OSF since it’s the taxonomy iNat follows for that group. Isn’t there any way to change that?

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#6

There is a similar feature request to add POWO to the External Name Providers. I don’t honestly know if it makes more sense to expand the existing feature request to ask for all External Taxonomic Authorities, or if staff would like to see them requested one at a time.
Maybe an opinion from @forum_moderators ?

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#7

OSF doesn’t have an API and even if they did, its probably too difficult for us to build/maintain user facing UI for interacting with lots of different external names endpoints, so we’ll probably stick to Catalog of Life and Encyclopedia of Life

I’d recommend flagging Orthoptera and listing the taxa you want added to bring it to the attention of a curator to help get them added

1 Like
#8