Ive herd said that there is no such thing as a stupid question but….
Im not sure where else to ask so here goes.
I have over 800 observations now and when I want to check an observation of something I think may have seen before I use filters and then scroll through the list (I have not had time to organise Dynamic lists, its on my to do list). How do I filter for just Moths?
If I filter for Butterflys I get my Butterflies but if I write Moths in the descriptions tags search field I only get a couple of unidentified Caterpillars. I both have selected flying insects or left it blank.
what am I missing/doing wrong?
If it’s not a Butterfly would it not therefore be a moth?
Apparently not and I seem incapable of asking the right question online to get an answer.
Thank you in advance for the obvious answer to my conundrum
It’s not possible to directly search for only moths using a single search term, as ‘moths’ do not form a monophyletic group that falls under a single taxon. Instead, you need to search for Lepidoptera and then exclude butterflies.
Here is a link that shows all of your moth observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=47157&user_id=glassmith&verifiable=any&without_taxon_id=47224
I would add - make sure to check what filters you have on. Sometimes accidentally checking one box can make half or all of a search return empty.
thebeachcomber has already provided the link and the explanation for this specific example. In general, searching for poly- or paraphyletic taxa (with the exception of reptiles) requires either exclusion or searching for multiple taxa at once.
There’s been a recent change that makes excluding taxa a lot more intuitive: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/you-can-now-exclude-include-ancestor-descendent-taxa-on-the-explore-pages-species-tab/60167
You can also manually type in
&without_taxon_id=taxon number 1,taxon number 2
into the link. (You can add as few or as many taxon numbers as you want, just separate all of them with a comma)
If you want to search for multiple taxa at once, I know of no easier alternative than to type it in manually, in this case:
&taxon_ids=taxon number 1,taxon number 2
(again, as few or as many as you want)
You can find the taxon number in the link of the relevant taxon page. For example, as you can see in the link posted by thebeachcomber, 47157 is the number for Lepidoptera and 47224 is for butterflies (Papilionoidea).
@thebeachcomer
Thank you for the links and explanation. I looked up the meaning of monophyletic, read a little more and though my brain warned of imminent meltdown I sort of got the gist. Knowing that the Human race is attempting to neatly classify all life on Earth is truly remarkable but only recently have I understood how complex and truly mind-blowing the task is.